Mark Of Athena
by SearScare
Summary: As The Argo II lands on Camp Jupiter, the Romans and Greeks hold their breath. Is this the beginning of a new friendship or the start of a very bad mistake? Just when things seem to be going good, a quest is issued to a hero. But this quest has dark undertones, and people may not always be what they seem to be. One quest, three objectives, six demigods. And one traitor. -Complete-
1. Chapter 1

******A/N: I have a historic weakness of abandoning my stories. Given that, I really really hope to finish this one- considering I have the entire storyline planned out for a change, that is, this story will have a proper direction and hopefully feel just like reading Rick Riordan's work. The story will be told from all the perspectives I can find- focusing on the Seven. **

**This is my first, First Person story. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: Characters don't belong to me. **

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><p><strong>1) A Flying Ship Pays Us A Visit.<strong>

**Frank**

There are boats and then there are ships. In ships you have frigates, destroyers and aircraft-carriers. You also have cruise-liners. And then there is _The Argo II._

_The Argo II _wasn't just any ship. For one, it was huge. (And by huge I mean easily the length of a football field.) For another, it was hovering over the Coliseum.

The downward draft created by it was buffeting all the campers surrounding me. Everyone's hair was flying. Well everyone who HAD enough hair to let fly anyway.

Which wasn't me. Obviously.

Percy's long-ish black hair was being pushed upwards till it looked like he'd gone and stuck his fingers into an industrial-sized electric socket. Hazel's hair was jumping all over the place and the curls were escaping her braid. She looked pretty cute.

I tried to catch her eye but she was looking at the ship with an expression hat can only be described as extreme nervousness. The kind of nervousness I felt around fire. The kind of nervousness which makes you want to say 'Uh-oh' but then the words get stuck in your throat.

Hazel, clearly, did not like _The Argo II. _

Percy on the other hand was looking at the ship (which was still hovering above us, by the way) hungrily. That made sense. He was the son of Neptune after all. Anything vaguely water related and Percy was your guy.

A squawk sounded from in front and I looked down to see Octavian pointing angrily to _The Argo II _and brandishing his sword. He clearly wanted to say a lot but (un)fortunately the hovering vessel chose the moment to descend.

The noise got louder and the downward draft, stronger. The wind managed to push us all back half an inch before we dug in our heels and resisted.

Then with a low rumble (which reminded me Hannibal's stomach after I gave him indigestion) the ship landed right in the centre of the crossroads, the underside of the bow grazing the stop of the coliseum and the stern squished into a space which had been cleared for the construction of the fountain.

The wind dropped immediately but a different noise took its place- the almost simultaneous drawing of dozens of swords and knives. I prayed that Reyna would be able to hold the line till the inhabitants of the ship made it down. Just to be sure, I glanced her way but her steely expression and the fact that her hand rested on the hilt of her dagger, did little to reassure me.

Camp Jupiter was waiting for an excuse to attack.

Of course I should probably mention that I too was feeling what the rest were feeling- a strong sense of discomfort which made me what to notch an arrow just in case, but Percy was standing right next to me and he'd given his word that the Greeks were not our enemies. Reaching for a weapon would make it seem like I didn't trust his word.

Also I really really wanted to believe him- because I wasn't too keen on taking on a bunch of people who had the skill and the ingenuity to construct _The Argo II. _

A rasping sound assailed my ears and several campers winced. I peered upwards and saw what was causing it- a long gangway was gracefully slithering down the side of the ship.

Next to me, Percy gave a half-strangled moan as though somebody had stabbed him and in reflex to protect myself I nearly shish-kebabed the guy standing right behind us.

Thankfully, the guy jumped out of the way and my dagger sailed harmlessly through the air. Of course the guy- who looked at least five years older than me and was ripped like a wrestler- caught my wrist painfully and yanked it down so that the dagger fell out of my grasp.

'What the hell are you trying to do, kid?'

'Sorry, a… fly was annoying me.'

He glared at me suspiciously and moved to another spot, muttering about crazy kids. I bit my lip and turned around just as Percy let out another moan.

'Percy… are you okay?'

Hazel whispered at him, her voice full of concern. For a moment I wished it was directed at me but then I looked at Percy's pale face and decided it probably wasn't worth it.

'Percy you look ill. He looks ill; we should do something.'

The last part I directed at Hazel and she bit her lip worriedly at the sudden stir around us. I looked up and forgot about Percy's plight for the moment because two figures were standing at the top of the gangway. The way the sun shone behind them made them look like the heroes depicted in paintings- the ones where they roll in and save the day, looking impossibly cool and badass.

A hush descended over the campers as the figures themselves descended slowly. I got the feeling that were being wary- as though they didn't trust the gangway. Or the reception party that was waiting to greet them.

I didn't blame them for either. The gangway was narrow and long and tilted at a steep angle to compensate for the height of the ship. At the foot of the little Walk Of Terror were close to three hundred heavily armed and very hostile demigods (and friends) waiting for an excuse to run their newly acquired Imperial Gold weapons through human skins.

The figures were about halfway down and their features were on the verge of being discernible when Percy sank to the ground with a low moan.

Hazel and I crouched down immediately. She put her fingers on Percy's neck to count his pulse while I tried to not feel a little jealous about him being the recipient of Hazel's treatment.

'Percy..?'

I asked hesitantly for lack of anything better to do as Hazel grabbed my hand to use my wristwatch to count off seconds. Percy's eyes were closed and he was trembling. He looked like he was about to throw up- a fact that I knew wouldn't go down well with the people in front of us.

I was on the verge of calling out for help when his eyes shot open, startling me enough to make me lose my balance. I landed heavily on my butt- which hurt- just as Percy spoke a single word.

'Annabeth.'

At the same moment, Dakota's voice, robust with health called out joyfully,

'Jason!'


	2. Chapter 2

******A/N: I must say I'm freaking myself out by uploading again. Ah well. Make hay and all that. Big, huge, thanks to all you guys who reviewed. Made my day, you did. **

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><p><strong>2) Octavian Begins To Creep Me Out.<strong>

**Hazel**

Honestly speaking Percy was beginning to freak me out. At first he looked positively ill (just like how I look when I'm seasick) but then he said 'Annabeth' in this strangely clam voice which was at complete odds with his demeanor.

Dakota's call of 'Jason' however made me scramble to my feet- leaving Frank to look out for Percy for the moment. I stood on my tiptoes in an effort to look over everyone's heads till I finally found him, Jason, near the foot of the gangway.

He looked a little older and a little thinner and he was wearing a bright orange T-shirt which said '**CAMP HALF-BLOOD' **in bold, but his shy, soft smile was the same.

'Jason!' Dakota called again and this time, he broke line to rush forward to meet his old friend. He was a hug away when Jason's companion stepped off the gangway and came to a stop beside him.

Dakota faltered and I saw why. Jason's companion was a girl. She was tall- probably a couple of inches shorter than Jason and she had a similar shade of blonde hair, which (oddly enough) had a streak of white running through it.

But that wasn't what scared me, nor –I had a feeling- Dakota. It was her eyes; they were grey. And I mean a hard, iron, grey. The kind of grey you see on cement roads- firm, hard and unyielding.

'Percy, what are you doing?'

Frank's surprised yelp made me look down, just as Percy struggled back to his feet. As he stood up, I saw a flash of white in his hair- a white streak that I had always wanted to ask about but never got the courage to do so. It was then, in a blinding flash of understanding, that I figured out who Jason's companion was.

Annabeth Chase.

'No wonder you're freaking out.' I said to Percy as he ran his hand through his hair, ruffling it back to its usual mess. He turned to me in surprise and opened his mouth to reply when Jason's voice interrupted us.

'Fellow Romans, I have brought a friend. Or well… friends actually.'

A deathly silence washed over the campers and I saw Octavian, off to my right, muttering darkly to his cronies. His expression said a lot and I suddenly had a bad feeling that he was going to speak and ruin everything. Thankfully, Reyna beat him to it.

'Jason, welcome back. Do tell your friends to come ashore. Rome is not hostile.'

Reyna's tone was cheery but firm. However for all the authority it carried, it didn't affect Annabeth Chase at all- her gaze sweeping the ranks with fervor.

'She's looking for you.' I realized and whispered to Percy who was looking like his usual self again.

'I know.'

He whispered back, not looking at me. Frank raised his eyebrow at both of us but I shook my head, indicating him to wait.

'Then, show yourself! She must be worried…'

I trailed off when I saw the corner of his mouth tighten.

'I know.' He repeated, insistently. 'But I can't just yet. The introductions have to be made properly to prevent a riot. Anyway Octavian's plotting away in the corner.'

I bit my lip buy didn't say anything. Percy was right of course but I could tell he wasn't feeling too good about his decision. Eight months, was a long time to be apart and he was still willing to wait to make sure things went okay. He really was a hero.

Meanwhile, Jason had waved his hands up in a sort of signal to the people on the ship and one by one they were climbing down the gangway. I caught my breath when the last one got off –there were twenty in all- because he was the guy who was in the message.

The guy, who looked exactly like Sammy.

He was whispering to a pretty girl by his side and I felt jealous instantly; which, then, made me feel pretty ridiculous.

'Here are my companions, Reyna. Here are the Greek half-bloods.'

Jason's words started a whole host of muttering amongst the Roman campers and I saw Samm-Leo, put his hand on what look liked a tool belt, which fitted around his waist. The pretty girl next to him, slid out a dagger but she held it on the side her body as though she wasn't in the greatest hurry to use it.

'Welcome Greeks, to Camp Jupiter. I am, Reyna, the Praetor. We got your... ahem, message and I speak for the whole camp when I say that the token of friendship has been offered.'

Her words eased up a lot of shoulders (both Greek and Roman) but my eyes went back to Octavian. He was frowning heavily. Reyna, meanwhile was preparing for another speech when Percy's girlfriend, Annabeth, cleared her throat and stepped forward.

Her presence was so powerful that even Octavian looked up, interested in the sudden turn of events. Annabeth surveyed everyone for a moment- no doubt looking for her boyfriend but since Frank, Percy and I were right at the back of the crowd and standing at the beginning of a depression, we were quite beyond her line of sight.

'Thank you, Praetor and fellow demigods for extending this hand of friendship. As leader of this expedition, I am honored.'

She didn't sound too honored though. That is to say, she didn't sound arrogant or obnoxious but her tone, though soft and polite, carried an undercurrent of weariness; as though the acceptance of the Greeks was the least of her problems.

'However, I must ask one question before we venture into a new alliance. Have you seen or heard of a demigod named Percy Jackson?'

Everyone swiveled their heads in our direction and Percy tensed up but didn't move. I didn't know what he was waiting for. I caught Frank's eye and made a gesture akin to shoving Percy but he shook his head carefully. Clearly, he understood Percy much better. Maybe it was a guy thing.

Meanwhile, Reyna was gazing at Annabeth in puzzlement. 'But of course, he's right here. Percy-'

She never got to finish her sentence because at an unspoken command, Percy had become to move. He shouldered his way through the crowd and I looked back at Annabeth to see how she was reacting.

She was standing as still as a tree but her grey eyes, which had previously looked like cement blocks had become a raging storm of emotions.

Percy finally broke though the Roman front line and stopped for a second between the invisible line which demarcated the Roman and the Greeks. Then, again as though an unknown decision had been made, he stepped over the invisible line and approached Annabeth.

She didn't move as he walked right up to her and enveloped her in his arms.

Everyone broke into spontaneous applause which I joined in with enthusiasm. It was such a tender moment that anyone who wasn't clapping probably possessed a heart of stone.

I glanced to my right immediately and wonder of wonders, Octavian wasn't clapping. But he wasn't frowning either. He had an oddly calculating look on his face which seemed to send a chill down spine.

Back at the front, Percy had let go off Annabeth and was being greeted by his friends who were clapping him on the back and calling out to him.

But the ultimate scene was when Percy found Jason, shook his hand and said loudly, 'Glad you're back Praetor,' which caused the Roman lines to disintegrate and merge with the Greeks. They were lead by a grinning Dakota who finally got a chance to hug his best friend.

As Frank and I pushed forward as well, I glanced over my shoulder to see Octavian leaving the pavilion, a crafty smile on his face and this time I swear, I felt the chill all the way down my back.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: A couple of people asked about whether this will be Leo-Hazel or Frank-Hazel. Well, I have a whole theory about the odd triangle which I hope to play out over the whole story- so I can't really tell you about who Hazel ends up with.**

**Also, someone asked about Jason and Reyna and I will admit that I haven't really thought about it, mostly because I haven't figured out yet what kind of person he is exactly and how I want to portray him in this. However, in keeping with Riordan's theme, they'll be plenty of confusion and deliberation before I reach any kind of conclusion about them.**

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><p><strong>3) I meet Seaweed Brain- and friends<strong>

**Annabeth**

To say that Jason was missed by the Romans would be an understatement. In fact, it would be such an understatement that it might as well be an underground statement. His friends virtually tackled him till I couldn't see him anymore because of the crowd that thronged around him. Finally, the Praetor, Reyna, barked an order to get back into formation.

There were a lot of disgruntled sighs but the Romans withdrew back into their straight lines without an argument. Jason grinned and then proceeded to walked up to Reyna and began speaking to her in a low voice, no doubt filling her in on the plan which he and I had come up with to ease the Greeks and Romans together.

Percy thankfully didn't move from his place, a little behind me- which was a relief. I was so sure he'd been killed by Monsters or by Romans (Jason put that particular idea in my head) that when he stepped out of the crowd , I figured I'd finally lost my mind and started hallucinating.

But the pressure of his hand on my left shoulder was wonderfully real and the scent of the sea which radiated off him, oddly refreshing. I wanted to turn around and collapse into his arms again but pride held me in my place. I was the head of the peace mission and I couldn't afford to screw it up. Jason had warned me that Roman's didn't take kindly to any form of weakness and I was determined to give them no excuse.

Besides, a hand on your shoulder can be wonderfully communicative. Who knew?

Jason finished his conversation with Reyna and turned to send a discreet nod in my direction. I felt my stomach loosen in relief- the first part was underway. Having spent the better part of the last eight months learning about the Romans from Jason I'd decided that an informal meeting of the demigods was necessary to build any sort of trust and friendship. How else to merge two groups of highly suspicious teenagers and make them work together, anyway?

Reyna swung herself back on to her Pegasus and called out loudly.

'Clearly the Greek's come in peace. Percy spoke the truth as of now onwards, they are our guests. It is my deepest desire that you mingle- show them our beautiful city and true Roman hospitality.'

She ended her speech with a stern glare, as if daring anyone to object to her instructions, before nodding once to Jason and spurring her Pegasus out of the pavilion.

There would have been an embarrassing silence left in her wake except Jason caught hold of his friend (who happened to have blood-stained lips- something I found pretty alarming) and said loudly, 'Dakota, meet Leo and Piper. I rescued Juno with them.'

It wasn't much but it did help break the ice allowing a few adventurous Romans to approach Will Solace and Katie Gardener- the other senior counselors who had accompanied me- and strike up a conversation. The Stoll brothers immediately sidled up to a Roman girl and began flirting with her and I fervently hoped that she didn't have a jealous boyfriend lurking around.

'It sucks that I'm right here and you're ignoring me.'

Percy's voice broke through my worries and instantly made me feel better. I turned to grin at him, taking in his appearance properly. He'd grown a little taller in his absence and his voice had acquired a deeper edge to it- making him sound faintly grown-up. His hair was longer, though as messy and stubble lined his face.

However what really struck me as odd were his clothes.

'Are you… is that a purple toga?'

I asked, attempting to stop myself from bursting out into laughter. He scowled at me and pulled the toga tighter around himself.

'Shut up, I have to wear it; being Praetor and all.'

It took a bit for his words to register completely but it did, I couldn't stop myself from looking at him in astonishment.

'Praetor? You have been busy.'

He grinned triumphantly at me and I rolled my eyes in response as I reached for him, suddenly a little desperate to feel him and make sure it was all real and that I wasn't still aboard _The Argo II, _dreaming.

I felt the difference as soon as I touched his neck. My fingers tingled when his skin felt a little softer and I took my hand off at once. He must've realized that I'd found something wrong because he pulled me closer and whispered in my ear.

Ordinarily, I would've been in heaven- Or Olympus- but his words robbed me off all the pleasant feelings whatsoever.

'Yeah, I also don't have the Curse of Achilles anymore.'

'What happened?'

I asked immediately and he glanced around, clearly worried that someone might over hear. However no-one was really paying attention to us and the area was quite empty- the majority of the Romans having followed Reyna's orders and taken their Greek counterparts through the city.

There were only two groups left. Jason was still with his vampire friend and Leo and Piper. A little way away, Will and Butch were talking to a couple of Roman girls.

Then I noticed two other people, a guy and a girl, standing not too far from Jason and staring at Percy and me. I was about to ask Percy who they were when he answered my question by raising his hand and waving them over enthusiastically.

'Friends of yours?'

I asked mildly. I wasn't jealous but my neck was feeling pretty prickly. Then again, they were _Romans. _

'Yeah, I went on a quest with them and stuff.'

He said it in typical Percy style- like it was no big deal but I knew Percy and I heard the undercurrent of protectiveness he felt for them in his innocuous words. I had so many questions, about the quest, the Romans, why he didn't have the Curse anymore and what he'd been up to for exactly eight months but Percy waved it away.

'We'll talk later. We've plenty of time.'

Something about his words made my stomach twist anxiously and I sudden feeling that we didn't, in fact, have a lot of time but then he grinned at me and I resolved to ignore my unfounded worries for the moment.

The guy and girl had by this time approached. The guy had broad shoulders and was impressively fit but his face contrasted comically with his body. It was cute and not at all what one would expect of a guy built like a wrestler.

'This is Frank- son of Ares.' Percy pointed to him and I shook hands with him, unable to stop myself from blurting out, 'A son of _Ares?_' Thankfully Frank didn't look offended in the least and he grinned and fiddled with his armor.

'Well, Mars actually. I guess he'd different from your War God.'

A lot different, I agreed silently and smiled at him. He seemed fairly nice and not at all what one would expect of a child of Ares.

'And this is Hazel- daughter of Hades.'

I turned to the girl and bit my lip to stop myself from yelping. She was shorter than Frank and was dark-skinned with curly hair which she'd tied into a braid. However, her eyes which looked like gold nuggets, reminded me painfully of Kronos- and Luke.

I shook her hand but didn't quite meet her gaze. Percy, in his enthusiasm didn't notice my discomfort- which in a way was a relief. Talking about Luke wasn't something we did a lot.

We were on the brink of an awkward silence when somebody shouted out, 'Hazel.' It turned out be Jason and he ambled over to join us with Piper and Leo trailing along looking a little uncomfortable- something I could relate to. Throw a bunch of people together when their only connection is a mutual friend and things are bound to get a little weird.

Jason hugged Hazel and then realized that introductions were necessary. It was then the strangest thing happened. Jason introduced Leo- who stuck his hand out and grinned- to Hazel and Frank. Frank smiled politely and shook his hand but Hazel went white and didn't move. Leo's grin faded and looked down to probably check for dirt stains when Hazel blinked and smiled wanly, ultimately giving him a brief shake.

Leo shot me a questioning look but I shrugged my shoulders though I had by that time, noticed Percy's tense expression. Clearly he knew the reason for Hazel's odd reaction and a second later he diverted the attention by shaking hands with Leo and asking about _The Argo II. _

Of course, Leo didn't shut up for the next five minutes which though was highly irritating, did manage to diffuse the tension between all of us. I was on the verge of cutting him off when a distant gong sounded, effectively doing my job.

Jason sighed in relief and said,

'That's lunch. We'd better hurry or they'll be none left.'

And with those ominous words, the seven of us joined the other stragglers and hastened to the dining area.

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><p><strong>AN: I have to say, I don't like this chapter too much. It seems to be too abrupt but I can't seem to get it out any other way. Meh, maybe the next will be better.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I think I quite like this chapter.**

**Also, someone asked me why I used single quotes for my dialogue so I thought I'd answer it here if anyone else also has issues. The thing is, for as long as I have been writing, I found using " for dialogue made my page seem really messy so now I just use these- '. It might be incorrect to do so but it's not like I'm getting published or anything. -_-**

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><p><strong>4) I Finally Get Some Time Alone With My Girlfriend<strong>

**Percy**

For someone who looked like a Latino Santa elf, Leo could scarf down food faster than Hannibal. With Tyson at the same table, the food around us was disappearing faster than the speed of light.

Annabeth was sitting next to me and Leo next to her. Jason and Piper were opposite Leo and Tyson sat next to them, opposite me. Frank sat on my other side with Hazel opposite him. They had their heads bent in conversation though I saw Hazel's eyes flit to Leo once in a while.

I really, really hoped she wasn't planning on accosting him about his ancestors. Still, there was a happy sort of peace in the mess hall with the Romans and Greeks getting along pretty well for people who were hard wired to be naturally suspicious of each other.

I figured it was mostly due to Reyna's watchful gaze and Octavian's absence that no major fights broke out. I had no idea where Octavian had disappeared off to and for the moment I didn't care. Annabeth was here- a fact I was determined to take full advantage of.

As lunch drew to a close, I coaxed her away from the table and led her back into the city, aiming for a particular fountain that I was fond of. The same fountain which Polybotes had pretty much smashed to bits the twenty-four hours ago.

I led her to a bench which was faced the front of the fountain and as we sat down I saw a faint engraving on the seat. For some reason the font reminded me of a bunch of waves, breaking over each other.

_A blessing once given remains a blessing. _

I found its presence a little odd considering they'd just finished rebuilding the fountain this morning but then Annabeth laced her fingers through mine and sort of leaned into me and I forgot about everything else in the world.

It was pretty darn wonderful and I could have sat there for a long time without speaking but after a minute she turned to me, her grey eyes unusually serious.

'Tell me how you lost the Curse of Achilles.'

I sighed but I knew if I was in her place I'd want to know too, so I recounted the story of waking up in Lupa's place right till I crossed the Little Tiber and entered New Rome. Then, because I'd started, I continued on to tell her about how I got chosen for the quest and how we saved Thanatos and survived- all by skin of our teeth. I told her everything except for Frank's piece of wood and Hazel's history and curse. It wasn't like I was trying to hide it but the story came out that way as I recounted it and I didn't want to go back and change anything.

She heard me out without interrupting once but as I ended she blew air out of her cheeks wearily.

'I know, I know…' I grumbled, 'I make really bad choices and take stupid decisions.'

She stared at me, clearly surprised by my comment and then grinned. I'd missed her smile so much that I actually had to restrain myself from kissing her.

'Well, you've always done stuff like that Seaweed Brain- I'm not surprised anymore.'

I frowned and she laughed at me. I waited her to finish before adding a little nastily, 'My stupid decisions have saved your life more than once if I recall correctly.'

She rolled her eye and shot back, 'They're also the reason I nearly get killed in the first place.' I shouldn't have argued but old habits die hard. 'Yeah, like when?' She tapped her thumb on our interlocked hands and answered. 'Like the time we had to recue Nico and Bianca and you thought you could take the monster- Thorn by yourself. Didn't it lead to me getting kidnapped?'

I wanted to argue and point out that I did come through eventually but it seemed too much of an effort right then so I let it drop. Surprisingly she didn't goad me for it and instead sighed again, the smile vanishing from her face faster than a peanut butter sandwich left in front of Tyson.

'Are you okay?'

I asked, wondering if Camp Half-Blood had gone through the same kind of battle with a huge army of Earthborn. She gave me a wan smile and when she answered, her tone was heavy with worry.

'Gaea is getting stronger. Ideally, we should leave for Greece by the 21st of this month; the summer solstice.'

I looked at her as if she were mad.

'Back up a sec, Greece?'

She sighed again and proceeded to tell me what had been happening for the past eight months. When she finished the day seemed to have become a little colder, the water a little less blue.

'If they destroy Mount Olympus-'

'-we're dead.' Finished Annabeth, her grey eyes darkening with fear. Maybe it was the fact that she was showing me how scared she was, maybe our separation had instilled a stronger sense of protectiveness in me, maybe- I don't know- seeing the city within Camp Jupiter made me think of a more permanent life with her but whatever it was, it made me pull her closer so that her head rested against the crook of my neck and my arms went around her waist.

'We can do this. Of course we can, wait and see.'

I said confidently, staring out into the blue water thinking of how exactly we were going to manage. She mumbled something which sounded like, 'That's the spirit Seaweed Brain' but I wasn't paying too much attention because of a sudden urge which had taken hold of me. I lifted her chin, dropped mine and finally kissed her.

When we broke apart, my lips left like they were on fire- a warm, cozy fire which made me feel a little better. Annabeth looked at me for a moment, ran the pad of her thumb down my cheek, then sighed and buried her face into my shoulder.

We sat there for an hour, not talking or moving. There wasn't much to be said anyway. Our entire existence depended on the fact that a bunch of adolescents with weapons had to get along and not start a war. It wasn't an encouraging thought.

What also wasn't an encouraging thought was the fact that I hadn't spoken to my dad. At least what Annabeth had told me explained why he'd been absent but it seemed a little unbelievable that Zeus had put them all under house arrest. Poseidon was the Lord of the freaking ocean. He didn't just twiddle his thumbs when his existence was supposed to be threatened.

'What're you thinking about?'

Annabeth's voice roused me from my thoughts and I pressed my cheek against her hair, inhaling the scent of it before answering.

'My dad.'

She hummed as though she knew what was bothering me but didn't say anything.

'I mean, he should do something!'

I burst out, not quite able to hold my annoyance in any longer. She pursed her lips but still didn't say anything.

'He should get Zeus to listen! Poseidon is his brother not his servant… well?' I looked at her, wanting her to back me up but all she did was look at me warily.

'What?' I asked, feeling self-conscious. She bit her lip and said unwillingly , 'It's not that simple Percy.'

'Well, it should be.'

I snapped back and then regretted my words immediately. She was on my side after all. I turned to apologize but she didn't seem offended in the least. In fact, if possible she looked a little sadder.

'It's just that, after all we've been through you'd think they'd learn to listen to us and each other occasionally.'

I tried to explain what I was feeling but as usual my words didn't come out quite the way they intended to. I think Annabeth understood though- and she didn't ask for a better explanation. Not that I could have given her one because just then a Lar walked out of the wall behind the fountain and glared at us.

'Percy Jackson. Annabeth Chase. You're wanted in the _Principia.'_

As he led us out, I turned around on instinct to look at the bench and wasn't all that surprised when I noticed the writing had vanished.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews. I really appreciate that you took the time to put in your thoughts instead of just asking me to update. **

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><p><strong>5) We Pull An Octavian And Talk All Day<strong>

**Jason**

To decide a seating arrangement for a bunch of demigods is difficult enough but to decide seating for Roman and Greek demigods together is quite a challenge.

Eventually Reyna agreed that a circular table in the centre of the room to seat four (two leaders from each side) was a good idea and the two Praetor's chairs at the end of the room were left unoccupied; Aurum and Argentum snoozing next to them.

It wasn't the most ideal compromise considering the Greeks and Romans divided themselves into two opposite groups and leaned against opposite walls but given that we didn't have time to waste- it was the best we could come up with.

The summer solstice was ten days away and Chiron had insisted it to be the deadline to sail for Greece. Since we weren't about to disregard advice given to us by a three-thousand year old centaur, it didn't leave us with a lot of time to plan the trip.

First, the Senate had to approve of supporting the Greeks and authorize Rome's intended action, then and only then, could arrangements be made. It was beginning to look hopeless but after I'd explained the situation to Annabeth, she'd been quick to point out that much could be done before the Senate actually met.

Reyna had agreed to an informal meeting between the two groups (the Greek visitors and Roman centurions and senior campers) to figure out the basics of the plan- who would go, what action would be taken against Gaia once the expedition reached Greece and how resources were going to be found to supply the long journey.

For most part, everyone agreed that the quest to Greece was unavoidable and that Rome should by all means take part in the glorious quest. I was surprised by the ready acceptance but when someone mentioned the battle they had yesterday, I understood why everyone was so keen to face the threat.

Romans did not like anyone messing with their home.

Another thing which was agreed upon fairly quickly was the seven heroes. I'd explained how Leo, Piper and I were probably part of it and Percy put in his bit about himself, Hazel and I guy I'd never seen before- Frank.

Nobody exactly knew who the seventh member was going to be though I had an unshakable feeling that it was going to be either Annabeth or Reyna. Still, no-one volunteered and we agreed to wait and see how things played out before selecting someone.

By and by, consensus had also been reached upon who all would accompany the seven to Greece. Dakota wanted to go full force but then Leo pointed out that _The Argo _couldn't accommodate so many people.

Casper, one of the Centurions of the Second Cohort also raised the issue of domestic security. Just because there was a prophecy to be upheld in Greece didn't mean that attacks would stop on the home front.

Finally it was decided that twenty campers from each side- including the seven would go and they would be decided on the basis of merit.

From there, things began to go downhill.

First, Karl, Octavian's fellow Centurion from the First Cohort (the Augur himself was missing) raised the issue of the Greek's trustworthiness- which immediately killed the genial atmosphere.

Then, the food problem was revisited and with no clear solution in sight, tempers frayed and squabbling broke out. Things came dangerously close to a full on fight when Karl called, Will Solace, Head Counselor of the Apollo cabin, a "filthy Greek who played with sticks."

Will of course, immediately reached for his knife (a bow being of no use at such close quarters) and Karl drew his _gladius. _Reyna was on the verge of sliding out _her _weapon when a steady voice from the back of the room cut through the babble.

'Quiet.'

It was Percy Jackson. While we'd offered him a chair on the table, he'd refused on the grounds that there were people better suited to lead the discussion- consequently nominating another guy- who turned out to be Frank- to take the place.

After that, he'd retreated to the back of the room and hadn't said anything of great importance except when the topic of weather came up. For most part, I'd forgotten he was there.

Now, however his voice shut us all up. Even Karl.

'No-one's knifing anyone. Will, take a break and get some fresh air. You…'

He pointed at Karl,

'… either shut up or take a trip outside as well.'

Karl glared at him and spoke through his teeth.

'You don't order me around Jackson. Only the Praetor can command me to leave.' He nodded arrogantly in Reyna's direction.

Percy's eyes flashed dangerously and he stood up straight. All this time, he'd been leaning against the wall, appearing to be the world's most harmless demigod but when he stood up, the hair on the back on neck copied him- the surest sign of danger as any.

He walked to the center of the room and the jug of water rattled a little as he approached. He leaned forward and as the light fell on his face I tensed involuntarily.

I didn't think of Percy as an enemy but his expression made me want to reach for my weapon. I could tell I probably wasn't the only one.

'You forget Karl, technically _I_ _am still Praetor. _Are sure you want to disobey your leader's authority?'

Percy asked smoothly. Karl didn't say anything and no-one dared to interrupt the silence. Then, Karl's shoulders slumped and with a dirty look to all of us, he turned on his heel and left the room.

Percy swung his gaze back to all of us and continued, his tone much friendlier, 'It's obvious we're not going to figure out the food problem tonight so I suggest we take a break and reconvene in the morning. Maybe one of us will have an idea then.'

He glanced at Reyna to confirm his suggestion and she nodded, her mouth tightening a little which I knew was a sign of displeasure. She wasn't against his suggestion but she definitely didn't approve of Percy hijacking her authority so effectively. Come to think of it, I didn't either.

I looked around at everyone and spoke, my voice coming out a little louder than ordinary.

'Those in favor of the motion?'

Almost all the Roman hands went up. The Greeks, confused by the procedure took a second to understand but then they too put their hands up- all except for Leo and Annabeth, who (oddly enough) wore matching frowns.

'Passed. This meeting is adjourned. Tomorrow we reassemble here, after breakfast.'

Everyone shrugged wearily and disintegrated into small groups. Percy moved off with Annabeth and as they passed me I heard a little bit of what she was saying.

'… we don't have enough time-'

Her tone sounded urgent but I couldn't quite understand why. We'd accomplished a lot for one day and no-one had managed to kill anyone…

I caught sight of Karl muttering angrily to Will through the open door.

…yet.

'Jason.'

Reyna's voice interrupted my thoughts and I turned to her, an uneasy sensation spreading through my stomach. She looked as weary as I felt- the past few hours had been a drain on all of us. Her piercing eyes left me for a moment and I glanced over my shoulder to see who she was looking at.

Percy was hovering near the door, deep in discussion with Annabeth. The lantern above him cast light on his right arm and I saw a flash of something which looked suspiciously like an SPQR tattoo.

It left me feeling vaguely annoyed and I turned back to Reyna just in time to see a frown slide off her face.

'You don't like him.'

I guessed immediately. She raised her eyebrow in surprise and her mouth twisted downward- an expression so familiar that it seemed to jolt my memory a little. Though bits and pieces of my life were falling back into place I was still unsure about certain aspects- my relationship with Reyna for one. I knew that we had been friends, close friends at that and I did recall one or two blindingly clear memories of time spent with her but I knew there were still a few holes which hadn't been filled and that made me as anxious around her as liars around Aurum and Argentum.

Reyna's gaze locked on to mine and she sighed.

'It isn't that. He's a very capable leader and if it weren't for him and his friends, Camp Jupiter could have been nothing but ash and stone today. But…'

She trailed off and watched as Katie led the last of the Greeks out of the _Principia, _her eyes jumping back to mine as they exited.

'…he's different. They all are and it makes me wonder if working with them is the only way to defeat Gaia.'

'They aren't that different.' I said quickly, thinking of Piper and Leo. Reyna caught the shift in my tone and her eyes narrowed.

'You spent eight months with them, Jason. Have you been… influenced?'

The way she said "influenced" made it seem as though the context of our discussion was drugs- bad, dangerous and decidedly unworthy. I grew defensive immediately.

'No I haven't. But the Greeks did take me in and they trust me. I respect their way as much as ours.'

She ground her teeth- obviously unhappy with my words but I didn't call her on it. She had no reason, like I did, to trust the Greeks. Hopefully time spent with them would improve her outlook.

'How've you been?'

I asked her, wanting to change the subject before any more comments were made but like an idiot, I chose the one topic I'd tried to avoid ever since I'd come back- our friendship. Her eyes flashed and I knew that there a lot of things she wanted to say but then her guard came back up and she answered neutrally.

'Fine. Running things.'

I nodded but didn't say anything. What could I say anyway? Sorry for letting myself get kidnapped by a Goddess? Sorry for letting her erase my memory of you? Sorry for the fact that she still hasn't given it back properly? Sorry for spending eight months in a rival camp?

I knew I hadn't been the ideal Praetor but I hadn't been put in an ideal situation either. I did the best with what I'd been given- which wasn't much.

'And you Jason, how have you been?'

Her tone was sharp and painfully accusing. I met her gaze and saw a lot I didn't want to see. Anger, hurt, animosity- but worst of all, suspicion. I gritted my teeth and answered in my best jocular tone.

'Great. Doing things.'

For a moment neither of us said anything and the air between us shimmered with emotions. Then, she straightened her shoulders, set her jaw firmly and spoke in a familiar, commanding tone.

'I must go; I have an audience with Lupa.'

I raised an eyebrow.

'Shouldn't I come along too? As Praetor-'

'You haven't been restored as Praetor yet. As Percy said earlier, technically, he still holds the position. Besides, there are matters I wish to discuss with her _alone_.'

The last part was said with particular emphasis as she stepped past me and out into the open air leaving me alone with my bitter thoughts.  
>I felt pretty resentful for the hand I'd been dealt. Reyna didn't trust me, Piper was wary of me now that we were back on Roman territory- as though I was going to morph two heads and call down lightning on anyone that pissed me off and finally - and possibly the one which rankled the most- I still hadn't got all of my memory back, despite the fact that Percy, who went through what I did, was perfectly fine.<p>

I felt like Juno had singled me out to amuse herself with. Which she probably had; her being my patron and all.

I spun on my heel and left the now empty _Principia. _Dusk had already fallen and torches had been lit so I had no difficulty finding my way. I headed to the Field Of Mars where most of the legion had been charged with building an amphitheatre during the afternoon.

Now it was brightly lit and everyone-including civilians from New Rome were lounging around on the wooden steps. Up on the stage, a bright fire glowed and two campers were dueling to loud shouts of approval and jeers from the front two rows.

'Hmph. Give them a couple of shiny new toys and suddenly, everyone wants to practice fighting.'

A voice growled from near my elbow and I glanced down to find Dakota sitting on a stone step, his ever-present bottle of Kool-Aid right next to him. I climbed over legs and sat down next to him, pushing the Kool-Aid out of the way.

'How did they manage to get those?'

I asked as I racked my brain to see if I had any memory pertaining to a sudden package of Imperial Gold weapons being delivered. Nothing came up and for once I was sure that the last time I was at camp, weapons had been hard to come by.

'Got them yesterday. Percy, Frank and Hazel came back from their quest with a heap of stuff. It really helped with the battle.'

Unsurprising as it was to hear Percy's name, it still stung a little to hear that he'd managed to get back the lost weapons. I'd been trying to convince Reyna for ages to sanction the quest but that had been one thing she'd refuse to help me with.

However I did feel a glow of pride when Dakota mentioned Hazel. I'd seen potential in her the minute she'd joined and I was glad to hear that she was utilizing it.

'Jason, there you are!'

Dakota and I both raised our heads as Piper appeared in front of us. She looked great as usual and her eyes appeared brown from where I was sitting but I knew that if I changed angles, they'd change colors. Her expression though, was one of worry and I stood up immediately.

'What happened?'

I asked and she backed up a little to give me space. Sure enough her irises lightened till they were almost honey colored. She opened her mouth to speak but then caught sight of Dakota and hesitated.

He saw her look and rolled his eyes.

'Oh don't mind me, I'll just go look for my other buddies.'

He grumbled and took another swing of Kool-aid as he got up and strode down the steps, his curly black hair glinting in the light of the fire. I turned back to Piper and waved at her to sit down but she shook her head.

'It's Leo. He says he has a weird feeling that something's about to happen and wants to know the protocol over here for telling people.'

I considered her words carefully. As a demigod, I knew better than to disregard Leo's "weird feeling." Demigod's intuition is excellent and when we listen to it, it usually saves our life. Still, Leo having a weird feeling wasn't grounds to call a War Council.

'Where is he?'

I asked, figuring I'd speak to him myself before drawing any conclusions. Piper shrugged and looked at me a little warily.

'I'm not sure; he raced off before I got to say anything. Maybe he's checking up on _The Argo. _You know how protective he is of it.'

'Yeah… okay, let's go find him.'

I figured I was killing two birds with one stone- I'd finally be able to have a proper conversation with Piper and we could discuss Leo's problem in private without causing a panic attack.

However in true demigod style, we'd barely taken two steps when the fire on the stage exploded. It wasn't a cute, "Haha-let's-put-a-fire cracker-into-the-fire" explosion; it was more like a "Holy Jupiter-I-think-I-left-a-keg-of-gunpowder-in-the-fireplace" kind of explosion.

It was loud, huge and hot and when the dust finally settled, a red face had materialized and was glaring at us.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Just took a break because of New Years and all. Don't worry, I haven't given up on this yet. Also, to all you reviewers, thank you so much for your thoughts. It's a pleasure knowing that most of you approve of how this story is progressing. **

* * *

><p><strong>6) I Remember Piper's Father<strong>

**Leo**

On a scale of one to ten, the explosion was an 8. I mean it was impressive and all but it could have better. The shock-wave threw the two guys sparring on the stage into the sixth row and the people occupying front couple of rows got their shirts singed pretty badly.

If it was the beginning of an attack, it was pretty lame because in about two seconds, everyone- Roman and Greek- was ready to fight. Swords were drawn, knives were slid out and arrows notched.

I snapped my fingers and in a moment I was gripping the familiar handle of my hammer.

Still for all our awesome reactions, the "enemy" turned out to be a red face; a big, shiny, ugly red face. It hovered just above the flames of the fire and looked at all of us balefully.

'Hmph…' The Face said as he turned his head to survey all the campers, 'Where is Perseus Jackson?'

Everyone stared at the face in confusion but the voice was so familiar that it stirred something inside me.

'Dad?'

I croaked, causing everyone to turn around and stare at _me_ in confusion. Then a girl who was closest to The Face let out a little scream that sounded a lot like,

'Oh my gods- Vulcan!'

I raised my eyebrows at her and the next thing I knew everyone was kneeling.

'My lord, it is an honor.'

A girl's voice called out behind me. I recognized it at once as Reyna, Praetor of Camp Jupiter and honestly the hottest stuff I'd seen in a while. She was all proud, firm and authoritative. I was _so _in love with her.

The Face (or should I call him dad?) nodded briefly to Reyna but asked again in his deep rumbly voice, 'Where is Perseus Jackson?'

'I'm here.'

From the left of the amphitheater, Percy appeared looking a little wary. In his hand he held a long bronze sword with a leather grip. The Face-Vulcan-Dad-Whatever turned to him and said, 'Ah! There you are!' triumphantly as though he and Percy had been playing hide-and-seek all this while.

Puzzled, Percy walked down a few steps, cutting across the amphitheater so that he was in front of Mr. Red Cheeks; a little to my left and a couple of rows in front of me.

'Jackson. You're to lead a quest.' Red Cheeks announced, his eyes quite literally blazing with fire.

'Sir?'

Percy asked politely as muttering broke out amongst the others. The bad feeling I'd experienced earlier returned with full force and I sudden urge to leave the place. I followed it.

'A quest Jackson, a quest! You're to regain your former _protection._'

'My former what?'

'Protection Jackson! Don't make me repeat everything I say!'

Vulcan snapped his fingers impatiently and the fire glowed brighter. I ignored someone's curse as I stepped past rows of feet and headed towards the edge of the amphitheater.

'But I don't have-'

Percy started to say and then stopped suddenly as though something had occurred to him. I wondered briefly about the "protection" nonsense but then concentrated my efforts on getting out of the vicinity.

'Exactly Jackson, so you'd better leave immediately. No more than four can help you. There is a condition though.'

I was almost as the end of the amphitheater- a metre away from the surrounding field of grass and mud when Percy's testy voice sounded from behind me.

'Yeah? What might that be?'

Two steps and a jump, I thought urgently to myself as my foot came to the edge of my level of seats. Then just as I was about to make a leap, Red Cheeks' words washed over me.

'You have to take _that boy _with you.'

I didn't have to turn around to know that he was pointing at me. For a moment I debated whether I should just jump for it but then the mutterings resumed and I knew there was no point.

Mentally kicking myself for taking so long to react, I turned around and began walking back, whistling nonchalantly as I went; pretending some crazy god hadn't just forced someone to take me with them on a quest.

'You want me to take Leo with me?'

Percy sounded baffled and I didn't blame him. Why on earth did my father –or the Roman personality of my father- want me to go with Percy to get his "protection" back?

Vulcan grinned nastily and the fire sputtered, shooting sparks in all directions causing a few campers to retreat further from the stage.

'Don't worry Jackson; he will be useful, I promise. Far more useful than you realize…'

And with that ominous threat the Roman god of fire exploded into a shower of sparks and smoke leaving anyone left within a 10 foot radius (Percy) smelling like soot.

There was an uproar immediately but Reyna barked out a few terse orders and everyone calmed down sufficiently to hear what she had to say.

'Centurions, report to the _Principia _at once. Percy…,' She hesitated and then glanced at me warily, '… and Leo, please accompany then. You too, Jason.'

She paused and surveyed the other campers.

'The rest of you, return to your leisure activities.'

I caught Piper's eye and she tried to mouth something at me but somebody- Jason, caught my arm and dragged me up the steps, preventing me from figuring out what she had said.

As we left the amphitheater, I turned around on a hunch and sure enough, a face danced in the flames in such a way that I had a feeling that I was the only one who could see it.

The flames winked at me and then sputtered out, leaving me in no doubt that my Roman father was even crazier than my Greek one.

* * *

><p>At the <em>Principia <em>– which turned out to be the name of the place where I'd spent most of the afternoon discussing the voyage, everyone formed a loose circle around two very regal looking chairs. One of them, Reyna occupied and the other was left empty though both Percy and Jason stood next to it

Next to the chairs were the two most amazing automatons I'd ever seen. Not counting Festus of course. They were dogs; one solid gold and the other, bright silver. Their intelligent eyes darted across the room and I got the feeling that son of Hephaestus or not, they wouldn't think twice about gobbling me up.

'To order, Centurions.'

Reyna's command cut through the arguments and I admired the way she took control of the situation so easily. The girl had the authority of a god around this place.

Once the Centurions shut up (which by the way, was in two ticks) Reyna turned to Percy and said, 'Your thoughts, Praetor?'

I probably wouldn't have noticed it but since Jason was standing near to Percy he was well within my sight and at Reyna's words his jaw clenched as though he was gritting his teeth.

I felt a twinge of sympathy for him. The poor guy had been waiting forever to get back home and now that he was here he found out that someone else had slid into his place with almost no effort at all.

'Well it's pretty clear what I have to do.. I've to go on a quest to get my protection back.'

I focused on what Percy was saying and caught the uneasy glance he set my way. Just like me, he had no idea why I was supposed to go with him.

'What is this "protection" again?'

A skinny guy asked from his perch opposite me. He had the palest complexion I'd ever seen and his blue eyes seem to glitter with fervor. He looked like a thin, rabid dog. I wondered briefly if he was the mad court jester of the place- in which case my position was taken- but then I caught sight of the rows of medals pinned to his chest. Even if he didn't look like much, he seemed to be important.

Percy hesitated at the question and it was obvious he didn't want to answer in front of so many people but Reyna didn't offer him a reprieve so he was forced to speak.

'The protection, or well, what _I think _Heph- Vulcan was talking about is… the Curse of Achilles.'

A dim light bulb went off in the back off my head and a vague scene of Piper's dad braining a lot of people floated to the front of my head.

'_You _had the Curse of Achilles?'

I blurted out before remembering that Roman's didn't appreciate people talking out of turn. Sure enough, Centurion-Crazy-Eyes glared at me in distaste but Reyna didn't seem to care. She ignored me completely and turned to Percy to ask, 'What is this curse?'

Percy fidgeted uncomfortably but answered her anyway.

'Well, you know of Achilles right?' Reyna nodded which didn't surprise me one bit- even the Romans had to have seen Tristan McLean's greatest hit.

'Well, legend has it that he was dropped by his mother into the Styx to make his skin like iron. Or… in other words, invulnerable.'

'Some mother…' A Roman commented next to me but Reyna glared at him, effectively shutting him up. She waved at Percy to continue- which he did after taking a deep breath. He really didn't want to discuss this topic.

'Anyway Achilles survived his treatment in the Styx and really did become invulnerable except for the bit that didn't get bathed- the part by which his mother held him.'

'His heel.' I guessed immediately. Percy shrugged, 'Heel, ankle… the story differs but we can pretty sure it was some region around his foot.'

'And that's how Paris killed him, right? He shot him through the foot.'

Jason commented, sounding a little awed. He wasn't the only one; the Romans were looking at Percy with a whole lot of respect. Centurion-Pale-Face very kindly put their thoughts into words.

'And you had this curse? You had Achilles' famed invulnerability?'

Percy didn't answer but his silence was clear enough. I couldn't understand why he was so withdrawn about it. If I was invulnerable, I'd make sure everyone knew about it. Particularly all the girls I was trying to date.

'So… how did you lose it?' Reyna queried breaking the silence and bringing everyone back to the topic at hand. Percy drummed his fingers on the table.

'When Hera- Juno… whatever, made me carry her into Camp, I had to go through the Little Tiber. It washed away the curse.'

'Why?' I asked instantly. This time no-one cared about my faux pas- they were all keen on hearing the answer.

'Greek magic cannot exist inside New Rome. Hera told me that.'

Percy answered with a baffled shrug. Clearly even he didn't get the intricacies of the whole Greek-Roman thing.

Reyna tapped her nail on the table which made a slight clicking sound. 'But then what's the point of getting it back if it's going to get washed away again?'

Percy opened his mouth but Jason beat him to it. 'It's not for Camp; it's for the trip to Greece.' His answer made sense but I saw a sudden image of Percy sitting all alone outside Camp Jupiter because he couldn't enter. It seemed a little sad.

Percy sighed as though he'd seen the image in my head and said, 'It doesn't make a lot of sense to me either but Vulcan wants me to do it- considering he actually came down to speak to me. It must be important.'

Percy's words reminded me of the dream eight months ago- the first and last time my father had contacted me. He'd said that Zeus had grounded the gods, so how then had my father sneaked out tonight?

'Very well. Centurions, it's time we voted. Since Percy is Praetor- I don't see the need of calling a full Senate meeting. Besides, something tells me we're short of time. Do we agree to send Percy and four of his companions to retrieve the Curse of Achilles with our support?'

Reyna's question had the Romans muttered amongst themselves again till the guy next to me, the one who made the comment about Achilles' mother, spoke up.

'No offense to Percy but why would a god care so much if Percy had the curse or not? And why should four other people go with him to get one thing done?'

The question was fairly logical and even I wondered what my crazy Roman father was up to. Reyna nodded to show the question had been heard and turned to Percy to see if he had an answer.

He did.

'You're right. But, to get the curse of Achilles, I need to bathe in the Styx- which happens to be in the Underworld.'

At the mention of the word "Underworld," my neck prickled. It didn't sound like a great party place.

'And what's so special about the Underworld?' Reyna asked, sounding incredibly confused. At least that was _one _thing we had in common. Percy glanced around and then spoke quietly, 'Nico. He's been captured by Gaia and if I'm making a trip down there, I'm gonna try and free him.'

The Roman's broke out into objections and Reyna thumped the table to get them back into order. Once she did, she turned to Percy, a frown settling on her face.

'Percy, Vulcan only mentioned getting back the curse and taking Leo with you. You can't just take off to find your friend- even if he is an Ambassador of Pluto.'

Percy narrowed his eyes a little and I felt the immediate change in atmosphere. The air felt heavy, just like it feels before a storm. I looked around for a hiding place and found none.

'Praetor, with all due respect, Nico helped the last time I got the curse. I can't do it without him.'

I didn't buy his words for a second and neither- by the look on her face- did Reyna. Her dogs growled by her side and I'd all but decided to burst into flame should things go sideways when Centurion Drug-Addict raised his hand.

'Praetor, if I may.'

Reyna frowned but granted him permission to speak. Albeit unwillingly.

'Go ahead, Octavian.'

Octavian (I liked the names I made up better) straightened his shoulders and cleared his throat before starting off fairly softly,

'My fellow Romans, clearly we are once again at crossroads in making a decision. As Augur, I sense that if we were to decide incorrectly, it would reflect poorly on our chances of survival in the future.'

He paused to let his words sink in. The whole group was listening to him intently except for Percy who was rolling his eyes.

'Sensing what I do, I saw that we let Percy Jackson undertake this quest- even if he insists on rescuing the Son of Pluto first. Many forces are going to be at work soon and even a child of Pluto would be most welcome in our darkest hour- even if superstition would have you believe otherwise.'

He ended his speech with an inclination of his head to both Reyna and Percy and sat down without another word. His speech however seem to echo in the silent air, reiterating what he'd said.

Finally, Reyna shook herself as though she was coming out of a daze.

'Thank you Octavian for your… _opinion._' She paused to place even more emphasis on "opinion" before continuing, 'Now Centurions, a vote to decide if we support Percy on this quest- knowing his full intentions.'

I wondered if I was allowed to vote but then I asked Jason silently and he shook his head so I sat on my hand and pretended to be disinterested.

Octavian's words seemed to have made a huge impact because almost all of the Romans voted for Percy and only a couple of people abstained- including Jason. Reyna and Percy didn't vote, though I supposed it was because they were Praetors.

'Very well, this motion has been passed. Percy, you and your companions…' Reyna glanced at me and I gave her a big smile. She didn't react at all, which did wonders to my ego.

'… are to journey to the Underworld to once again obtain the curse of Achilles. Whether you decide to rescue Nico or not is entirely your decision but I must remind you, _The Argo II _leaves in ten days time- so there can be no unnecessary delays..-'

'What about supplies and transport?'

Percy interrupted and his expression seemed to say that he'd had an argument over this before. Reyna exchanged a glance with Jason and then said neutrally.

'Supplies will be given of course. Your quest has been approved.'

'And transport?'

Percy asked again. Reyna heaved a huge sigh and said,

'What do you have in mind?'

Percy considered the question. 'Motor transport. D'you guys own a car or van or something?'

I imagined driving to the Underworld in a van which totally cracked me up. Fortunately, no-one was really paying me any attention so I managed to convert it into a cough.

'We do have a car but it's currently in the middle of… repairs. I don't think you can use it.'

Reyna said and shot a glance to Octavian as though it was his job.

'What happened to it?' I asked, wondering if I could lick it back into shape in time for the quest. Maybe that's why dad sent me along- so I could provide modes of transportation. It's all I seemed to do on quests anyway.

'The garage which we kept it in got smashed by Polybotes and his Earthborn though I _did _tell someone to move it…'

She trailed off with another glare to Octavian who busied himself in checking his shirt for imaginary fluff. There was a moment of silence, and then Percy sighed and went back to drumming his fingers on the table.

'Right. Well, we'll figure out a way.'

'Who all do you intend to take with you, aside from Leo?'

Jason asked suddenly as he looked at me, a little troubled. Percy looked at me as well and I knew all three of us were thinking the same thing: _how_ _does Leo Valdez fit into all of this?_

'Annabeth.' Percy answered once he took his green eyes off me. A few Roman's snickered but I felt secretly pleased- at least they'd be one friendly face with me.

'And?' Reyna prompted. Percy shrugged and rattled off two more names, 'Hazel and Frank… that is if they want to come.' The names didn't mean much to me though I had a vague recollection of meeting them earlier; apparently they were part of the seven.

'Very well then, you and Leo are excused to plan the quest as I need to talk to my Centurions. I want you to fill me in once you're done.'

She waved her fingers- a clear sign of dismissal and Percy nodded and beckoned to me. I caught Jason's eye as we left and his expression told me he wasn't pleased that he wasn't coming along to watch out for me.

I felt a rush of gratitude and I gave him a weak thumbs up just before the door closed and blocked him from my sight. Percy and I stood for a moment on the steps not saying anything, till he turned to me, his expression quite serious.

'Leo… did your dad tell you anything about why he's sending me on this quest? Or why you're required to come?

I thought about Vulcan had winked at me from the fire. There was no point in telling Percy how crazy my dad was- he probably knew that anyway.

'I don't know anything. He didn't even talk to me remember?'

I tried not to sound accusatory but Percy winced at my tone. He studied me carefully and for a moment I felt uncomfortably vulnerable- as though he knew all about my less that genial thoughts about my father.

'So, ummm… you do have a plan, right?'

I asked, trying to stop him from staring at me. It worked; he dropped his gaze and rubbed the sole of his shoe against the cobblestones before looking up again, his brow furrowed in thought.

'I have, well, a semblance of one…' He trailed off and looked at me again. Then he sighed and said, 'Let's go find the others first- see if they want to come along.'

He started off down the path and I followed him, deciding not to say anything for a while. I had a feeling that he didn't entirely trust me because of my inexplicable presence on _his _quest.

I didn't blame him- I wouldn't have trusted me either but it was still an uncomfortable situation to be in. Hopefully keeping my mouth shut would earn me some brownie points. Hopefully.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: New chapter! I've decided to skip Piper in my sequence of people because she's not too central to this story. Also, now the story will just be from the five who go on the quest, mostly because the story revolves around the quest- so no Jason either, except maybe at the end. **

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><p><strong>7) Percy, Hazel And I Are Off Again.<strong>

**Frank**

Hazel and I were sitting in one of the corners of the amphitheater tying to make light conversation when Percy found us. I knew something had been bothering Hazel and I really wanted to ask what but I couldn't seem to pluck up the courage to actually make a sound.

I didn't know how things stood between us- I mean, yeah, she did kiss me and all and we did talk about how we sort of liked each other but now I wasn't exactly sure what that meant.

Were we dating? Were we not? We just friends or were we more than friends? A ton of questions zoomed around my head but I didn't bring up any of them. She clearly didn't think it was important enough to discuss and I didn't want to be the creepy guy who needed labels for everything.

Anyway, Percy finding us and asking Hazel and me to accompany him on his quest virtually saved the conversation- at least till he mentioned the Underworld; that's when I got queasy real quick.

'The Underworld?' Hazel repeated in a shaky voice and Percy and I exchanged glances. As bad as it sounded to me, it was probably ten times worse for her. After all, she'd only just gotten out of the Fields of Asphodel.

'I understand if you guys don't want to come…'

Percy said seriously and for a moment I really wanted to take up his offer and say "no." But then my resolve hardened and I remembered how Percy had uncomplainingly accompanied me on what was nearly a doomsday quest to Alaska.

Sure, my dad had commanded him to go but it wasn't like Percy couldn't have backed out. After all he'd done for me; I owed him enough for one, hopefully short, trip to the Underworld.

'I'm in.' I said, hoping my voice didn't sound too squeaky. (It tends to do that when I'm nervous.)

'Are you sure?' Percy asked worriedly but I gave him, what I hoped, was my best reassuring smile.

'Yeah, I'm sure. Besides, I have a feeling you're going to need a elephant around- in case things get hairy.'

He grinned at me, relieved but both of our grins vanished when we turned to Hazel. Her mouth was a tense, straight line and her eyes seemed more withdrawn than usual.

'Hazel, it's okay. Forget I asked.' Percy said gently as he laid a hand on her shoulder. It hardly touched her when she jumped to her feet startling both of us.

'Do you want me on your quest or not?' She napped, sounding close to tears. Percy gaped at her and nodded wordlessly.

'Well then, I'm in.'

Percy glanced at me for help but I shrugged my shoulders in reply; I'd never seen her like this either.

'C'mon then, we should discuss this properly.' Hazel said authoritatively. Percy and I jumped to our feet as she stalked energetically out of the amphitheater.

'Your girlfriend is really something.' Percy whispered to me as Hazel glared at two campers in her way, causing them to jump back and apologize profusely. I wanted to object and tell him, that we weren't in fact dating but a warm glow inside me stopped the words and instead I said, 'Yeah. She really is, isn't she?'

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><p>We- that is, Hazel, Percy, Annabeth, Leo and I were lounging on the bunks of the barracks of the boys from the Fifth Cohort. I'd sent the cohort off to do something else after dinner so that we could discuss the quest in private.<p>

Percy had told us that the entrance to the Underworld was in LA and we were all examining a giant map spread on the floor to find a route which would get us there in the shortest amount of time.

Annabeth had a silver laptop open and was skimming through the internet, trying to find anything that could help us.

'Most of the travel guides all say the same thing- it's a six hour journey without accommodating weather or heavy traffic.'

She said to Percy who was sprawled on the floor, his chin in his palms as he surveyed the map carefully. Hazel and I were sitting on the bunk opposite Annabeth's and Leo was on the floor, opposite Percy, using the closed drawers under the bunk as back support.

'Six hours but we don't exactly have wheels do we?' Percy muttered to the map, a tad resentfully.

'Trust Octavian to screw up the quest before it's even begun.' Hazel said, annoyance seeping through her voice. I was about to agree with her when Percy sat up and interrupted me.

'Actually, he's the one who persuaded Reyna to let us go.'

'He _what?_'

I asked loudly causing Leo to wince. Percy nodded somberly, his green eyes flashing a little as the overhead light fell on them. 'I know, I don't get it either.'

'Maybe he thinks you'll die on the quest. That's why he's all for it.' Hazel pointed out from her side of the bed and I had to admit her words totally sounded like something Octavian would do. I trusted the Augur as much as the length of my hair and I hadn't forgotten what he'd done to Gwen during the War Games.

'Erm… can I ask you guys something?'

Leo's question distracted me from my gloomy thoughts and I suddenly realized that he only knew Annabeth out of all of us. I felt a twinge of sympathy- I knew what it was like to be treated like a stranger considering I'd only joined camp a month and a half ago. I resolved to be as friendly as I could to Leo.

'Sure, what's bothering you?' I asked, infusing my voice with as much camaraderie as possible. Leo raised an eyebrow at me but then turned to Percy.

'Why don't we just fly? We'll be there in less than an hour.'

From the opposite bunk, Annabeth gave a wry laugh and answered.

'Let's just say, Zeus isn't comfortable with Percy in his territory.' Percy grimaced and added, 'Flying makes me sick to the stomach.'

Leo raised his eyebrows as if to say, '_You're kidding right?' _but then shrugged and let the matter drop. Percy went back to staring at the map and next to me, Hazel gazed broodingly out of the window.

At least I knew what was bothering her now. Once we'd gathered after dinner, Percy told us his real intention of embarking on the quest- which cut short all my hopes of hopping in and out of the Underworld.

He wanted to rescue Nico- which sounded incredibly thoughtful of him but none of us had a clue as to where Gaia was holding him so all we could really hope for was that a few helpful Underworld creatures could point us in the right direction.

All in all, it wasn't much of a plan and I didn't really see why we _had_ to rescue Nico right away but I trusted Percy's instincts and he _had _assured us that he had an idea which could work so I was willing to play along.

Of course, the main reason behind my not arguing the Nico theory was because of Hazel. He was the only family she had left (which now explained why she'd said yes to the quest; clearly she understood Percy much better than me) and I wasn't going to be the guy to veto bringing him back.

'There's a bus service.'

Annabeth said suddenly from her perch on the bed. We all looked up and she turned the screen so that we could see.

'Seven hours… that's not bad is it?'

I asked and no-one answered. I suddenly realized that everyone else was still reading. Being the only demigod without dyslexia was worse than my stupid lactose intolerance.

Thankfully, everyone ignored me till they finished. Then, Percy, who had his nose right up to the screen squinted and pointed with his finger. 'Hold on. It says that departure's at 1… p.m. Which means we'll only reach by 8; maybe even 9.

'So?' I asked, failing to draw any conclusion whatsoever from his statement. Annabeth, however seemed to understand because she sighed and pulled the laptop back to her.

'Am I missing something again?' Leo asked from the floor and I thanked him silently for asking a question on what seemed to be an obvious matter. Hazel wasn't reacting but from her expression, I got the feeling that she wasn't really paying attention to us anymore.

'Monsters are stronger in the dark. With five us travelling together, we'll be like a signal flare to them and I really don't want to tempt fate, considering Gaia still controls the Doors of Death.'

Percy explained casually but I could sense the worry underneath. We'd thought navigating the Underworld would be the difficult part… no-one had really wondered about getting there.

'Look, let's keep it as a fall back option, if we don't find anything else we'll..' He trailed off as the door to the barracks opened. For a moment none of us reacted since we were a little stunned by our visitor but then our instincts kicked in and Percy had his sword out of his pocket just as I found my dagger.

Octavian raised his eyebrows and yawned.

'Really Jackson. Such theatrics.'

'What do you want?'

Percy's voice seemed to echo with power and I was secretly glad he wasn't aiming at me. Octavian however didn't seem to be affected- he only grinned wider.

'Oh I don't want _anything. _But you, _you _on the other hand might want something _I have._'

An uneasy silence billowed around the room and out of the corner of my eye I saw Annabeth slide out her knife. Then, Percy's shoulders relaxed somewhat and he capped his sword, transforming it back to a pen.

'Fine. What do you have?'

Octavian grinned and I saw his eyes go past Percy and fall on each of us. Was it my imagination or did they rest on Annabeth for a fraction of a second longer?

'Not here, Jackson. Outside; we'll be on equal ground.'

For a moment Percy didn't say anything but then he stalked past Octavian without looking at him and exited the barracks. Something inside me pushed me to my feet and made me speak.

'I'm coming with both of you.'

Perhaps I would have felt happier if Octavian had rejected the proposal but all he did was sneer at me like I was some pathetic mouse before whirling around and slipping through the door.

I hesitated for a second but then bounded after him anyway.

I followed Octavian, who followed Percy, who led us to the edge of the Field Of Mars. In the distance the lights from the amphitheater twinkled. Percy saw me and raised an eyebrow but didn't question my presence for which I was grateful.

Octavian didn't need any more opportunities for making me feel worthless.

'So what do you have that I want?'

Percy asked as soon as Octavian and I came to stop. I took a few more steps until I was on Percy's left and let my hand rest on the hilt of my dagger. Just in case.

Octavian either didn't notice or didn't care because he fished something out of his pocket and threw it at Percy. My instincts totally wanted me to slice whatever it was in half but in hindsight, it was a good thing I didn't. Percy caught it and stared at it, puzzled.

'Keys?'

Octavian looked smug as though he'd just saved our quest… which he probably had if I was correct about what those keys turned on.

'I thought you said the camp's car was destroyed?' Percy asked a little angrily, his fist closing around the keys tightly. Octavian shrugged in his annoying way. I swear he practiced that move often because every time he did it, it annoyed me even more.

'So I lied to Reyna, what else is new? The car is in a garage on Holland Street. It's just off the highway so you can't miss it.'

He paused and I realized he was waiting for Percy to say something.

'Why're you helping us?'

Percy asked his tone a little less hostile but still fairly hard. I was glad when I saw Octavian flinch but I got the feeling that it wasn't because Percy had suddenly begun to intimidate him. Confusion crossed his face but then he shook his head and it cleared, only to be replaced by his sickening smile.

'I told you before Jackson, you shouldn't have decided me as your enemy so soon.'

Percy snorted derisively and muttered something like, 'And Hannibal is a mouse.' I grinned but Octavian didn't appear to hear because his weird smile was still stuck to his face.

It was beginning to creep me out a little.

'There's money in the car- cash and plastic. Use it as you wish, it's of no use to me.'

Octavian continued, his blue eyes narrowing on Percy intently. The way he said it made me realize something fairly unpleasant.

'Hold on a second. It's your car? _You _have a car?'

I asked, my voice travelling upwards a whole scale. Octavian glanced at me and I caught a flash of annoyance before it vanished.

'Yes. I use it sometimes but clearly you have more need of it than I do.'

I really, really wanted to ask who the hell he was and what had he done with the real Octavian but my instincts were jumping up and down like Dakota on his first sip of Kool-Aid for the day.

He _was _Octavian- and I knew this because of the way he spoke. He was helping us but his tone made it clear that he didn't want to. I glared at him, trying to figure out what was going on in his strange head but he kept his gaze on Percy and refused to acknowledge my presence.

'Well, Jackson? D'you want the car or not?'

Everything in me was hoping Percy would say "no" but when I glanced at him, I realized with a sinking heart that that was not going to happen.

Then again, it made sense for him to use all the help he could get- even if it was from Octavian. Nico was in danger and was possibly being tortured as we spoke. We had ten days to leave for Greece and no other transport was available. We couldn't afford to look _this _gift horse in the mouth.

'I do. Thanks.'

Percy said. Octavian shrugged like he really didn't care but he shot me a look which I think said something like "_Haha, you've lost!_" but I couldn't be too sure.

'Well, may you succeed on your quest, Jackson.'

Octavian said, the words slipping out of the corner of his mouth like runaway ghosts. Then, he whipped around and disappeared into the darkness leaving Percy and me alone in the Field.

'I don't trust him.'

I said at once, not in the least bothered if Octavian was still within earshot. Percy glanced at his clenched fist and then met my gaze.

'I don't either.' He agreed wholeheartedly. We stood for a second in silence and then began walking back to the barracks. As we neared it, a thought struck me and I pulled him aside to tell him.

'You know what struck me odd about the conversation?' I said as we stopped underneath a street lantern.

'What?' Percy asked.

'He didn't ask us to bring his ride back in one piece.'

* * *

><p>We finally finished our discussion as the horn blew for Lights Out. We'd made some progress, especially for the road trip to LA. Annabeth had typed away on her laptop and found us a route in no time.<p>

Percy had glanced at it and then asked Hazel and me to check it for bottlenecks or potential ambush spots. I happily agreed and Hazel and I spent the better part of an hour going over it.

Annabeth and Percy discussed the Underworld and how we were going to navigate our way through it. I tuned into their conversation once in a while just to see what they were talking about.

I didn't do it often though- not because I didn't understand it but because even though they were technically talking to the whole room, their conversation seemed very personal to me.

They made a lot of references to earlier encounters and would often grin at a seemingly random comment. I didn't begrudge them of it, it was hard to be resentful when they were so in sync.

Plus, it was kind of comforting to think that someone of their experience was in charge of the quest. To be sure, I was scared as hell (haha) to be going to the Underworld but they talked so knowledgeably that it was hard not to think that everything would turn out fine.

As the horn blew, I waved goodnight to Leo and Hazel (Percy had disappeared earlier with Annabeth) and nearly tumbled into bed because I was so exhausted. Minutes later, Dakota and the rest of the guys from the Fifth entered.

I pulled the blankets up to my chin as Dakota took the bunk opposite mine. As Centurions, our bunks were next to the door- supposedly so that we could lead the cohort from the front, in case something happened. It was a great explanation but since the door was left partially open, (again to be ready for battle in a moment's notice) the first two bunks were always the coldest.

The door opened again and this time Percy walked in, strapping a watch to his left hand. Dakota and I stared at him, more than a little confused.

'Erm… Percy, shouldn't you be at the Praetor's house?'

Dakota sat up in bed and asked politely. I didn't move because I was quite cozy and had no intention of losing any of my warmth. In any case, I had an inkling of what had occurred.

'I decided to sleep here. The house belongs to Jason; it's full of his stuff anyway.'

He glanced at me as I spoke and I gave him a thumbs up. He grinned, appreciating it. Dakota, however, frowned and reached for his flask of Kool-Aid which always stood next to his bunk.

'So Jason's in the house then?'

Percy's grin faded away and his jaw tightened.

'No… he's on _The Argo._'

Dakota clearly wanted to ask why but Percy strode to his bunk and began taking off his shoes- stating quite obviously that the conversation was over.

I was so tired that I didn't try and catch Percy's eye and instead closed my own. I was instantly asleep- though it wasn't restful or restorative in the slightest because of my dream.

As soon as my consciousness faded, I felt like I was falling. The feeling was so powerful that I felt myself struggle to wake up but then a blaze of colors blinded me and I realized I was lying face down on a floor.

A cold, earthen floor.

I got to my feet warily and glanced around but all I could see were chains built into the earth. The sight of them made me feel positively ill so I checked out the rest of the room instead.

There were no windows or doors and from the roof (which was pretty high up) hung huge stalactites. My breath made fogged up as I released it and the ground rumbled beneath my feet. A familiar voice filled my head.

It was Gaia.

'Ah, Frank Zhang. You've come to admire my prison. How kind of you?'

I whipped around but no-one was there. My brain also chose the very moment to remind me that I had no weapon on my person.

'Calm yourself, young Hero. I am not really here and neither are you.'

Her voice slithered over me like a snake and I shivered involuntarily. I had thought that thinking of the Underworld made me feel sick but now, I'd gladly take the Underworld over Gaia's voice any day of the week.

'I hope your stick of life is safe, young Hero. We wouldn't want something terrible to happen to it, would we?'

Her words cut me so effectively that my hand went to my breast pocket at once until I realized that I was dreaming and it couldn't possibly be with me. And even if I was awake, it was safe with Hazel.

Thinking of Hazel was a bad idea because Gaia read my mind.

'How trustworthy you are, Frank. You leave your life in the hands of the girl who lies to you.'

Till now, I'd been feeling pretty scared but as soon as Gaia started on Hazel, I felt a familiar protectiveness flare up inside me.

'Shut up.'

My voice was impressively deep and it seemed to echo in the empty chamber-prison. I felt pretty good about myself but then Gaia laughed and the earth shook slightly as though I'd cracked a particularly funny joke.

'Ah, Frank. Such words, such courage.' Her voice changed and became more silky, more terrifying. It seemed to whisper in my ear.

'She _has _lied to you my dear. After all, aren't keeping secrets, considered lies?'

'I know her secrets!' I replied thickly but she laughed again- this time so softly that it felt like it was coming from the inside of my head.

'You know most of them Frank. Most but not all. After all she couldn't tell _you _how she yearns for another.'

My insides went cold. I didn't say anything- mostly because I couldn't.

'Oh yes, Frank. The flame-bearer. He's the one she _truly desires…_'

'SHUT UP!' I yelled, my voice back to being squeaky. I struck out at the walls and Gaia laughed so hard that the earth trembled and I thought her prison was going to collapse on me.

'Go now, my Hero. We will meet again- and when we do, I will show you the truth.'

The ground fell away under my feet and this time the sensation was enough to jerk me out of bed- making me nearly crash into Percy's face.

'Frank, you okay?'

'Mmpf?'

I replied, my mouth feeling like cotton wool. I suddenly realized that Percy was holding a lantern in his hand and it was dark outside.

'I was just about to wake you up. C'mon, we have to leave.'


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I was going to wait a little longer before I uploaded this (like when I had 35 reviews) but since it's my birthday, I'm feeling annoyingly generous. I do hope your attention isn't being taxed by the pace of the story; I promise it begins picking up after this.**

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><p><strong>8) We Start Off Towards Our Doom.<strong>

**Hazel**

I tried my best to get changed as silently as possible but it wasn't easy when the showers were at one end of the barracks and I was at the other. As I walked up and down, getting dressed and getting my stuff together, more than a few of my fellow bunk-mates cursed me in a variety of languages.

It didn't bother me too much though, after all I was supposed to be the Undead Daughter of Pluto and being the Undead Daughter of Pluto, I was going to the one which place which could make me Dead Daughter of Pluto- the Underworld.

Also, accompanying me on the journey was (the Sammy-look-a-like) Leo AND my kinda-sorta-boyfriend, Frank.

So really, the curses my fellow campers called down on me didn't bother me at all- I anyway had the worst luck of all time.

I hefted my rucksack on to my bunk and wrapped up my long cavalry sword into my bedroll and then tied the bedroll on top of the rucksack- just like I'd done the last time I'd gone on a quest.

Which, by the way, was a _week_ ago.

My luck was really the worst.

To be honest, I knew if Percy was just going to get the Achilles thing back, I would have refused point blank to accompany him. I mean, I liked Percy, I did. He was kind and caring and he treated me with respect but even for all of that I wasn't willing to risk a trip just for the heck of it.

When he'd asked me, I'd screamed "no" inside my head and then, nearly out loud a well but I'd caught his expression just in time and I knew he was planning to accomplish a lot more on this quest than just the Curse of Achilles.

He was going to save Nico.

And that had made me say yes. Nico was the only family I had, even if he had tried to use me for his own mysterious purposes- I just had to help rescue him.

Of course, if we _did _manage to save him, I was going to poke him with my sword multiple times till he gave me some answers.

I hoisted my rucksack and bedroll on to my shoulders and exited the barracks as silently as I could. It was 6 o' clock and the grey sky had the beginnings of pink streaks in it.

Percy wanted to leave by sunrise. He'd said it was a good time to start a journey. I personally thought he was trying to avoid the morning rush hour.

The camp was eerily empty- the first wake-up horn was still half an hour an away. Even the Lares seem to be asleep as they lounged against (or rather through) various walls and statues.

We'd agreed to meet at the rear entrance of the camp, just before the Little Tiber. I filled my lungs with fresh air and decided to think happy thoughts.

I didn't quite manage it considering I'd had another dream about Sammy last night. It had felt like a memory but it wasn't. The dream had shown Sammy and I getting married- and that of course had never happened.

I'd woken up so angry and hurt that the edge of my blanket had been wet with tears.

And now, I was off on a quest with his grandson. My insides burned when I pictured Leo and I had to chant "He's not Sammy, he's not Sammy" in my head to remind myself that he wasn't in fact, Sammy.

Leo hadn't spoken much last night, even when I'd offered to show him back to his ship- which I knew wasn't like him because he'd seemed quite the opposite when we'd first met, after _The Argo _had landed.

In fact, his wide grin had had me believing he was Sammy for more than a passing moment and I hadn't even been able to shake his hand. Ha, maybe that's why he didn't want to talk to me; he probably thought I was a weird Roman girl who didn't like Greeks or something.

I sighed wearily when a diamond appeared in my path and as I walked by, I flicked at it irritably. It sank into the ground without leaving so much as a scar in the dirt.

I finally reached the meeting place and my stomach clenched nervously when I saw Annabeth sitting on a rock on the banks of the river.

Her blonde hair caught the first pink streaks of light and it shimmered in the grey light. I stopped a few feet away and hesitated- was I supposed to approach her and strike up a conversation?

Anyway, the point was soon moot because she heard me and turned around. For a moment neither of us said anything and I just stood there awkwardly. Then, she gave me a weak smile.

'Hey.'

I tried to reciprocate but my muscles just weren't up to it and my smile felt more than a little forced.

'Hey. Umm, where are the others?'

She shrugged, 'I don't know. Leo's taking care of a few things on _The Argo. _He's a little… ah, possessive of it.'

I wished I could say his name as casually as she did so I tried it out a few times in my head but it didn't come out quite right. I sighed and sat down next to Annabeth, putting my rucksack on the grass because I didn't want to dirty my bed.

'So, you're the daughter of Hades right?'

Annabeth asked, while staring out into the tunnel that was the rear entrance to camp. I found it a little odd that she didn't look at me but then I disregarded it- it wasn't like I was perfect.

'Daughter of Pluto, actually.'

I corrected automatically. She flashed me an apologetic smile, again not quite meeting my eye.

'Oh right. Pluto…'

I felt a little guilty because she was clearly trying to be friendly so I decided to try a little harder too.

'It's no big deal. I guess they're almost the same.'

I offered her another smile and this time it definitely felt more real. She grinned at me and I had a sudden feeling that I could really be friends with her. She gave off such an aura of… capability, I guess. Like no matter what situation she found herself in, she'd find a way out of it. It was kind of cool.

'Oh there you guys are. Phew. It's really early isn't it?' Leo's voice rang out from behind and I turned to see him stagger up to us.

He had a huge pack on his shoulders and around his waist he had a tool belt- which I remembered seeing earlier.

'Leo, what in Athena's name is that?'

Annabeth asked exasperatedly as Leo stumbled around with his bulky pack. Leo simply grinned at her in reply before collapsing on the ground next to me. I hoped my expression hadn't turned into something weird as I watched him attempt (and fail) to readjust his straps.

'So where in Athena's name is our Almighty Leader?'

Leo mimicked perfectly at Annabeth. I saw her roll her eyes but there was a faint smile on her face.

'Ask Hazel. They're in the same cohort.'

Leo obediently turned to me and a knot of nervous energy tightened painfully in my stomach.

'I don't know actually… guys and girls have different barracks.'

I managed to answer without a quiver in my voice- which I felt was a great achievement in my present state. Leo pulled a face at my statement.

'Well, that's a little odd. Why?'

'They aren't divided into Cohorts on the basis of their godly parent, Leo.'

Annabeth thankfully answered for me. A look of understanding passed over Leo's face.

'Oh… OH.'

A wicked grin began to appear and I looked away hurriedly. Leo looked _exactly _like Sammy when he grinned. Thankfully a distraction arrived in the shape of Frank.

'Hey guys.'

I smiled in return and suddenly, I felt a heady rush of affection for the guy. He was so solid and dependable and when he'd held me I'd felt so _safe…_

Frank nodded at me but didn't say anything, which I found a little odd. He always looked so pleased to see me that this rather cool approach made me wonder if I'd said something wrong to him.

'Uh. Frank… where's Percy?'

Annabeth's question roused me from my thoughts. I looked up, just in time to see Frank shrug.

'No clue. He woke me up and then disappeared to talk to a few people.'

Annabeth nodded but I noticed that she looked a little worried. Clearly Percy's eight month disappearance had made her a little paranoid.

'Hey man, could you give me a hand with this?'

Leo asked Frank as he desperately pulled the straps of his humongous pack. Frank knelt down and raised an eyebrow at it.

'You sure you'll be able to carry this?'

Leo rolled his eyes, which I found kind of cute, even if it pissed me off a little as he directed it at Frank.

'Just help me with it, will you?'

Frank shrugged and pulled at the straps easily. He lengthened one and shortened the other so that they were equal. Leo watched him work and then shot me an amused glance as if to say, _"Get a load of this guy, huh?"_

I tried not to respond because he was dissing Frank but it was hard because this Leo reminded me irresistibly of all the conversations I shared with Sammy; conversations which used to literally be the highlight of my day.

'Oh good. You guys are here.'

Percy appeared, looking a little out of breath. A portion of the sun had appeared on the horizon and was bathing us all in its light. Everyone's hair shone- though not as much as Annabeth's which seemed to look like a miniature sun of its own.

Percy greeted us all with a smile but it changed into something more when it fell on his girlfriend. I quickly averted my gaze and tried not to feel a little jealous when I realized that Frank used to look at me like that. I glanced at him and noticed he was frowning at the Caldecott Tunnel.

I sidled up to him as Percy bent down to help Leo put on his pack.

'Hey.'

Frank started at my voice but then his warm brown eyes met mine.

'Hey.'

Our conversation was short-lived though because he moved over to help Percy with Leo's pack, leaving _me_ to feel like a bundle of unwanted baggage.

Eventually Leo got his pack on and we formed a sort of circle. Percy looked at each of us and then said, 'Well, anyone feels like backing out- now's the time to do it.'

None of us said anything even though my stomach fell all the way down to my shoes. We were going to the _Underworld. _Frank and Leo didn't look too good either, in fact, only Annabeth's expression didn't change- except for her eyes which hardened a little bit.

'Right. C'mon then.'

And with a wave of his arms, he parted the river so we could walk through without getting wet. We walked in a single file with Percy leading till we reached the opening of the tunnel.

Terminus was waiting for us. His bust glared as we approached the mouth of the tunnel.

'You again, Jackson. And Frank and Hazel too!'

Percy rolled his eyes and motioned to us to continue. Terminus glanced at our tattoos and tried to jerk his head to nod us through. He didn't quite manage of course so he ended up looking a little constipated. Behind me came Leo, and Terminus narrowed his eyes at him.

'Ah… who have we here? I saw you Graceus arrive, landing your battleship in my precious city. You're lucky I didn't blast you out of the sky.'

Leo raised his eyebrows.

'How exactly would you do that when you have no-?'

Percy cleared his throat and interrupted Leo before he could continue.

'Yes… ah, they're very sorry for that Terminus. I'm sure they'll land it in the Field of Mars next time. Won't you Leo?'

Leo liked like he wanted to land _The Argo _inside the city again- just to tick Terminus off. His wicked grin certainly said as much. Percy caught sight of it and pushed Leo over the line before he could say anything.

Terminus glared at Annabeth next but she stared back coolly which seemed to intimidate him a little. He said, 'Pass by all means' in his gruff voice and then tried to nod Percy through as well.

'Good luck Jackson. You best be wary of your friends.'

It wasn't the best thing to say to people departing on a dangerous quest but if Percy heard, he didn't react and merely nodded to Frank to lead the way.

I walked right behind Frank and tried not to think about the last time I'd been in the tunnel, just a week ago. So many things had changed between then and now that it seemed like a hundred years had passed since the time I'd fought the Gorgon's through this very stretch of dirt.

A muffled "oomph" came from up front and I stopped myself just time from walking into Frank.

'What's the hold up?'

Leo's cocky voice asked from behind me and his words echoed ff the circular walls.

'Nothing… I just stubbed my foot.'

Frank answered and I saw the back of his neck go red. Leo chuckled and I repressed an urge to join him.

'We've reached anyway.' Frank said as he pushed his palm against a section of the tunnel wall. A creaking sound filled the air and the front mound of dirt slid backwards till we staring out on to a highway.

Two guards stood outside and saluted Frank and Percy as we clambered out. The sun had properly risen by now and I glanced at the watch on Fran's hand.

6:30.

'We'd better get off the highway. We have about half a mile of walking to do.'

Percy grabbed my arm and led me across the road. Technically, since it was a highway, it would have been impossible to cross but so early in the morning, there wasn't much traffic.

Still, a few cars had to slow down and their drivers swore and made rude gestures at us. We ignored them though I did see Frank blush at the colorful abuses.

Leo on the other hand gave them a cheery wave which only made it worse.

We set off, again in a single file with Percy leading the way. I was right behind him. As we walked, I tried to focus on the birds and the sounds of a waking up city, anything but the sound of Leo's voice as he carried out a conversation with Annabeth who was bringing up the rear.

'So how many times have _you _been to the Underworld?

'Once.'

'And how old were you?'

'Twelve.'

There was an astonished silence after that which Frank filled.

'Seriously?'

'Seriously.'

Even though I couldn't see her, I could tell from her tone that she was amused.

'Why'd you go down there anyway?'

Leo put in, obviously over his astonishment. In front of me, Percy sighed though I could see a nostalgic smile dancing on his lips.

'Well, we were trying to rescue Percy's mom. And retrieve Zeus' master-bolt.'

This time I was so shocked that I swear my thoughts looked something like this:

!

Frank fell into step beside me and bumped my shoulder with his.

'I still think you're cooler.'

I raised my eyebrow at him as behind us, Leo pressed Annabeth with more questions- which she answered at a much slower rate.

'You do?'

I asked as we stepped to one side to allow an old lady walk and her two massive dogs walk past.

'C'mon, you were thirteen when you sacrificed yourself to save mankind. That's like a _way _bigger deal.'

He smiled at me- his usual smile, full of warmth and happiness and I remembered why I liked him so much in the first place. He always tried to cheer people up. He was so… nice that it was hard to believe he was the son of Mars.

'Thanks, Frank.'

He shrugged it off and we continued the walk in silence though now, Leo's voice didn't hold such a center place in my thoughts. Percy led us down the highway for another fifteen minutes before he turned right and took us down a street.

Then, just as Leo was beginning to groan under the weight of his pack we stopped outside a garage which was aptly called, "Rides."

Leo snickered at the sign and all of us grinned. As we walked in cautiously, the first thing Annabeth did was move to Percy's right. Frank moved too and took up Percy's left.

It was defense 101 so I turned my back slightly so I could keep the entrance in my peripheral vision.

'Hello?'

Percy called out and an answering crash made us all jump. Annabeth, Percy and Leo drew their weapons just as a huge man walked in.

He was easily a lot more than 6 feet and his arms were like steel pillars. His curly hair fell all over his face.

'May I help you?'

He asked politely, oblivious to the weapons trained on him. Thank god for the Mist. Percy hastily capped his sword.

'Erm, yeah. I here to get my car. I have the keys right here…'

He fished them out and pressed a button. Off to my left, in the deep recess of the garage something made a loud noise. The garage guy however, didn't seem too impressed because he scowled at Percy.

'That car belongs to another kid… how'd you get hold of his keys?'

I glanced at the exit again. Just in case.

'He… uh, lent it to me for a couple of days. We're his cousins.'

It was probably the worst lie Percy could have come up with because of all our wildly different appearances. The garage guy hesitated and then heaved a sigh.

'Look, I'm sorry but I can't just give the car-'

He paused when Annabeth stepped forward. Even I let the exit out of my sight momentarily to see what she was up to.

She snapped her fingers.

I exchanged an awed glance with Frank. We'd heard a lot about people who could manipulate the Mist but we'd never actually _seen _it happen.

'You know us… we're regular customers of yours.'

Annabeth said authoritatively to the guy whose face was wiped clean of any expression. He opened his mouth to say something.

'Uh.. guh?'

Annabeth sighed and continued, 'We're going to take our car and leave now. You don't have a problem with that, do you?'

The garage guy smiled stupidly in response. I felt a rush of pity for him.

'Don't have a problem.'

He repeated and grinned widely. Annabeth nodded and set off towards my left, leaving us all to hurry after her. She walked straight up to a car which for me, felt like it had dropped out of the future. Since I had indeed dropped into the future recently, my brain wasn't too far off.

It was a big car. Nico had once called them something- an SUV, whatever that stood for. It was white and had darkly tinted windows. On the front was a circular blue and white insignia.

Behind me, Leo whistled. 'Is that a BMW… ?' The rest of his sentence was a bunch of words which made no sense to me. Frank's eyes were as big as saucers as and even Percy looked speechless.

Only Annabeth didn't seem to care. 'I take it that this is a very expensive car? I asked her and she smiled wryly. 'Oh yeah. How'd you guess?'

I grinned at her and the guys snapped themselves out of their trance.

'Hey, this car is worth a lot okay?'

Leo said indignantly. Annabeth just rolled her eyes and took the keys from Percy. She pressed a button and the back of the car opened. I stared at in amazement.

'Put your stuff in here- except your weapons. We need those around.'

I put my rucksack in and slid my sword out of the bedroll. I figured I could lay it down on the floor of the car. Frank did the same with his bow and the helped Percy as they both struggled to fit in Leo's pack.

Finally, our luggage was in and we closed the door with a relief.

Annabeth threw the keys across to Percy and a familiar grin lit up his face.

'Let's ride!'


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: A short but important chapter. Not to give anything away but this was the first idea I had when I thought about writing a MoA. **

**Again, much appreciation to my reviewers!**

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><p><strong>9) My Mother Proves to Be Singularly Unhelpful<strong>

**Annabeth**

Percy drove rather well for someone who had been asleep for six months. I mean, yes, he did do a few stupid things and he did have a few lapses of judgment but otherwise he was reasonably okay.

We drove for about an hour- I was riding shotgun and the other three had piled into the back. Frank and Leo both cornered window seats which left Hazel in the middle. She didn't look too happy about that.

Breakfast comprised of donuts, bagels and a whole assortment of seriously unhealthy food from a roadside diner in the outskirts of the city. A whole bundle of cash, found in the glove compartment by a gleeful Percy paid for the provisions. He even bought half a dozen cups of coffee which he _insisted _he needed.

I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything.

After that we were on the road again and within minutes Frank, Leo and Hazel had fallen asleep. Percy and I didn't talk much, mostly because I wanted him to concentrate on not plowing through oncoming traffic but also because I kept thinking about my dream.

To be clear, I've had my share of bizarre dreams but the one I'd gotten last night just about took the prize for weirdest dream ever.

In the dream, I'd been standing outside a convenience store with… my Mom. Now usually, I've gotten used to seeing more of her in my dreams than in person but over the past eight months, ever since Olympus shut down, I'd heard nothing from her.

So naturally when I'd turned around and walked straight into my mother, I'd been more than a little surprised. She hadn't even said hello. She'd just thrown an urgent glance skyward and then proceeded to tell me all about a legend which was thousands of years old.

The legend was centered mainly on a Hero who had gained so much favor in Olympus that when the god's told him to ask for a boon, he'd wanted all of their blessings trapped in two pearls.

The god's of course were surprised, considering they thought he'd ask for immortality (here my mother had shot me a look) but then eventually allowed his request.

The Hero, armed with the blessings of the god's, returned home and like all men, proceeded to brag about his gift- which resulted in him getting killed for it. But there was a catch. The Pearls wouldn't transfer their complete power to a new owner till the previous owner had allowed it.

So the assassin tracked down the Hero to the underworld and forced him to change their allegiance. Eventually the Hero agreed and the assassin took possession of the Pearls only to be accosted by a passing shade who had overheard the conversation.

The Pearls continued to change hands but no-one ever got around to using them till, Zeus who had had enough of all the bloodshed made the them vanish at his command. They were never found again.

"_And they've been lost for many a millennia Annabeth but the Oracle has foretold that they will soon reappear once again. You must find them and if you do, protect them, for if Gaia-"_

The sky had thundered loudly interrupting her but I'd figured out the rest on my own anyway. The Pearls could be either a big threat or a huge advantage to Gaia and if she got hold of them, any chances of defeating her would vanish just as they had so many millennia ago.

"_But where am I supposed to find them?"_

My mother however didn't answer my desperate question and only muttered something like "they'll find you" and a caution to not tell anyone before disappearing into a cloud of dust, leaving me to wake up to Leo's terrible alarm clock.

I tapped my finger on the window as I watched the scenery whiz past, my mind not taking in any of it. How in the world were the Pearls going to "find" me and how was I supposed to protect them from _Gaia?_

'Are you going to tell me or am I supposed to guess?'

Percy's voice interrupted me and I turned my head to frown at him.

'What are you talking about?'

He took his eyes of the road for a second and even from his quick glance I knew that he was on to me.

'You've sighed four times in the last minute. Something _has _to be bothering you.'

I looked at him but this time he didn't take his eyes off the road. My mom had told me not to tell anyone and I understood the wisdom of her words but this was Percy. He'd never been merely "anyone."

So I kept my voice as low as possible and told him about my dream.

He didn't say much but it was probably because of the sudden increase in traffic on the road. His eyes flickered to the back twice though and I knew he was checking to see if the other three were really asleep.

Eventually when we came to a clearer section, he sent one worried glance my way.

'What I don't get is why your Mom told you. I mean why _you, _specifically?'

Any other person would have probably taken that as an insult but I knew Percy and I knew he was genuinely worried about my safety. These Pearls, wherever they were beginning to sound like Bessie the Ophiotaurus again.

'What bothers me most is how I'm supposed to protect them from Gaia. I meanI can't play hide-and-seek with her can I?'

I let my frustration seep into my tone and from the corner of my eye I saw Percy grin.

'What?' I asked him, annoyed. Here I was freaking out about stalker Pearls and there he was grinning away to glory.

'Nothing, I've just missed you.'

I opened my mouth and then shut it just as quickly, not quite knowing what to say. Percy and I never really _talked _about our feelings, we had a more "I-know-what-you're-feeling" kind of relationship but once in a while he did manage to surprise me.

I saw him grin again.

'What now?' I asked, feeling annoyed again. He shot me an amused look and said, 'It's not often that I'm the one _not _blushing. So I'm kinda celebrating over here.'

I would have hit him but I didn't want us to end up as a twisted heap of metal so I contented myself with rolling my eyes.

'Just drive.'

He smiled at my tone but didn't say anything and I put my head against the window and watched the scenery go by. I was on the verge of falling asleep when he spoke, sounding a little hesitant.

'Can I ask you something?'

I pretended to groan but sat back up anyway.

'What?'

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and I saw his fingers tighten around the wheel. He looked a little nervous.

'What… did you think about Camp Jupiter?'

I raised my eyebrows but answered his question dutifully.

'Well, they're certainly way more organized than us.'

'And?'

He asked, sounding more nervous than ever.

'And… we could learn a lot from them(?)'

I finished the sentence with a question because honestly I had no idea what he wanted me to say.

'What about… New Rome?'

'What about it?'

I asked, far too quickly to sound nonchalant. Thankfully, I now knew what he wanted to talk about though I was still vague about what conclusion he was going to draw from it.

He took his eyes off the road to look at me for a second and I swear he looked right through me. Then, they jumped back and I saw his shoulders slump a little in… disappointment.

'Chuck it, it's not important.'

I wanted to protest but something told me that he really didn't want to talk, which meant he needed time to think so I leaned my head against the window and went back to staring at the scenery, feeling supremely self-conscious all of a sudden.

The feeling faded eventually and I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift off to sleep.

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><p>Two more hours slid by and I kept waking up at regular intervals. At about 10, when we were about halfway to LA, Percy pulled up to the side of the road near a Petrol pump - 247 convenience store and rested his head against the steering wheel tiredly. I saw the dark circles under his eyes and wondered if he'd had a few mysterious dreams of his own.

'We need fuel. And I'm…-'

'Drained. Pass me they keys, I'll fill her up.'

I said quickly and took the keys before he could protest. Frank shifted uncomfortably in the back and cracked open an eye.

'Why've we stopped?'

'Fuel.' Percy answered shortly. All three of us ended up getting out of the car and Percy headed off to the store to use the facilities. Frank stretched his legs and conducted a quick 360 degree sweep. I nodded approvingly at him and he gave me an embarrassed smile.

Something caught my attention and I turned around to survey the tree line. One tree in particular seemed vaguely familiar as though I'd walked past it before…

'Frank…?'

I said slowly as my eyes traveled to the farthest edge of the wall I could see.

'Yeah?'

'Could you fill the tank? I need to check something out.'

He nodded and took the hose off my hands. I walked down the front wall of the 24/7 and then turned the corner cautiously. Nothing extraordinary stood out but I felt something float down the edge of my spine. I continued further, my hand gripping the hilt of my knife until I reached the next corner.

There I paused- unsure of what I really wanted to do. My instincts were buzzing to continue exploring but I've walked into my share of traps and this felt exactly like one.

Far above me, a bird twittered.

I stood still, indecision still plaguing my thoughts when my ADHD kicked in and I lunged around the corner with my knife drawn.

It came in contact with… nothing. I staggered a little as my center of gravity shifted to accommodate my activity and I threw my hand out against the wall for support and managed to get myself upright to survey my surroundings.

It looked exactly like the rest of the place. Trees, grass- nothing unusual. I was about to turn away when a stone bench caught my eye. There was nothing special about it...

Except for the fact that my mother and I had sat on it when we talked in my dream. It was the very same, down to the weird stone handles on either side.

The bird twittered again.

I ignored it and approached the bench, running my hands over it, looking for something unusual.

One portion had some lines engraved but the stone was so weathered that I couldn't make anything out of it. I checked underneath the bench and there half buried i the dirt, was a coin.

It didn't look valuable in the least and there was so much dirt that only one edge actually showed the metal. I hesitated, then picked it up and put it into my pocket anyway.

As I stood up, the bird twittered again and this time, the sound filtered down several layers before it finally struck me that it didn't sound like a bird at all.

I looked to the trees at once, a deep suspicion invading my thoughts and sure enough on the first branch of the familiar tree was a yellow bird with beady, red eyes.

For a moment we stared at each other and then it hit me- it was automaton.

We were being watched.

The bird clicked its beak and took off. I watched it go with a feeling that we were about to get some very unpleasant company soon.

I slid my dagger into its sheath and ran for the car.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I finally have a chapter which allows me to keep the 'Adventure' tag in the story without making me feel guilty. I hope you guys have as much fun reading as I had writing it! **

**Major thanks as usual to my reviewers. I forced myself to update today just for you guys. :)**

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><p><strong>10) I'd Take This Over An Exam Any day.<strong>

**Percy**

Drinking half a dozen cups of coffee to keep myself awake had seemed like an _excellent_ idea what I'd bought them but now, I was feeling like a balloon about to burst and I realized it might not have been such a great idea after all.

Thankfully, I made it to the bathroom without embarrassing myself. As I let out a relieved sigh, I let my mind wander back to the multitude of events which had taken place over the past day.

I couldn't believe I'd gone from happily waiting for the arrival of my friends to setting out on _another _quest in less than twelve hours. My mind buzzed with all the quirks that seemed to have popped up in the course of the day.

First and foremost of them was this utter fail of a quest. Please, sending five demigods' to get one Mark of Achilles seemed a little too much. The Roman guy back at camp had been right, Heph-Vulcan couldn't care lessif I had the stupid Mark of Achilles or not. The god's were most definitely up to something- I just needed time to figure out what it was and hopefully by the time I did, Nico would be out of Gaia's clutches.

Second on my list was Octavian's behavior. I'd been so sure that I'd have had to have another war of words with him that I'd even thought of a few good lines but his complete about turn had left my instincts tingling. Frank was right, the guy was playing a game of his own and (surprise, surprise) I had no idea what he was up to either.

Third; Annabeth's dream. This was one thing which totally floored me. Pearls? Transferred ownership? I didn't have a clue as to how that was going to fit in but I hoped that her agile Athenian brain would figure it out before it was too late.

Fourth was Leo. Don't get me wrong, he certainly seemed like a great guy- really talented with his hands. But his forced presence bothered me and I got the feeling that he knew more than he let on.

My fifth issue was Jason. The guy was really wary of me- and I didn't blame him. I held his position and as Roman rules would have it, I couldn't just hand it back to him. Reyna and I had a long discussion (argument) last night in which she'd explained to me how the position couldn't just be tossed around whenever it caught somebody's fancy. I didn't understand the need for the formalities, I didn't want it and Jason did so _why _couldn't he just take it back?

Still, I'd tried to talk to Jason in the hopes of establishing a sort of base but he'd sided with Reyna (even though I could tell from his expression that he didn't want to) and insisted that if the transfer of power had to take place it would be in accordance with the wishes of the Senate and the Roman people.

At least I'd managed to make sure that he'd keep the discussions about the trip to Greece balanced. He'd perked up a bit and assured me that he'd keep Octavian and his friends from screwing things up.

All in all, he seemed fairly decent even if we were really uncomfortable around each other. Maybe it was a parent thing.

Finally, my last worry was what I was going to do when we reached the Underworld. I didn't know where Gaia had Nico imprisoned and the only real plan I could think of was paying a visit to Hades in the hopes he could give me some information.

Also, even if I _did _manage to find Nico, it wasn't like my friends and I could tip-toe in and waltz out with him.

I sighed, washed my hands and headed back to main store area. Outside, Frank was closing the fuel hatch to the car. Annabeth was nowhere to be seen. I frowned but then something caught my eye- a packet of blue gum. Going along with the urge to spend all of Octavian's money, I picked up five packets and headed to the counter.

The clerk was a diminutive woman; all of five feet and zero inches. Her platinum blonde hair and her blinding smile made me want to shield my eyes.

'Just the gum, please.'

I said and she swiped the packets through the bar-code reader. I dug my hand into my pocket and pulled out loose change to pay when she gave me another smile and said sweetly, 'And to whom should I make the bill out to?'

'Oh right. P-'

'-atrick Hunt.' Annabeth interjected from my shoulder as though she'd been there the entire time. Her hand gripped my elbow tightly in an all too familiar gesture of _"Shut up."_

The clerk looked a little startled and I felt sorry for her. Even _I _didn't know how my girlfriend had managed to get in without alerting us to her presence.

'Oh and you are?'

The clerk glanced confusedly from Annaebth to me. I kept my mouth shut- I didn't know what Annabeth was up to (I could make a list like this) but I wasn't about to argue with her vice-like grip.

'Jasmine Hunt. We got married a few months ago!' Annabeth replied ignoring my shocked expression. She snapped her fingers discreetly under the clerk's chin.

'He proposed with such an amazing ring- look!'

The clerk dutifully gazed at the proffered finger, which was completely bare by the way, and gave us another blinding smile.

'Oh, how cute! I wish I could give you a discount but-'

'No no… that's okay.' Annabeth interrupted quickly, her tone betraying just the slightest amount of urgency. 'We're in a hurry actually, aren't we honey?'

She turned to me and I didn't have to look into her grey eyes to get the message: _Play along, I'll explain later. _

'Of course, dear. We're on a… tight schedule.' I mumbled dutifully and the clerk gave me a sympathetic smile. Annabeth swiped the gum into my hand and increased the pressure on my arm, dragging me sideways along with her.

'Well thank you so much Ms. We'll be sure to stop by if we come back.'

Annabeth waved with her free hand and I gave my best fake grin as we both stumbled out of the door. I opened my mouth to launch into a barrage of questions but Annabeth glanced up and down the road swiftly and said, 'Just get into the car.'

She pushed me to the passenger seat as we approached the car. Hazel and Leo were still asleep and Frank was coming around the back to give Annabeth the keys.

'What kept you guys?'

Annabeth ignored the questioned and took the keys. 'Into the car, we're leaving.' Frank raised his eyebrow at me but I shrugged; if there was a reason behind all of this- I didn't know it.

Frank and I had barely got in when Annabeth took off with a roar, jerking both Hazel and Leo awake.

'Wazz… where's the tank?' Leo asked groggily from the backseat as we swerved around a turn nearly tailgating the car in front of us. Hazel yelped and I had to swallow really quickly to stop myself from doing the same.

'Erm Annaebth, why are you driving like a maniac?' I asked, forcing my voice to remain calm as we overtook a truck by driving along the edge of the road. From the back I heard Frank grunt in pain and when I turned around I saw Leo helping Hazel extract herself from the tangle of limbs that represented Frank and her.

I turned back around just in time to see Annabeth glance in the rear-view mirror and go white underneath her tan.

'What?' I asked, immediately. She answered by jerking the wheel to narrowly miss a head-on collision with a fifty ton truck. From he sounds at the back I guessed that Hazel had now been thrown into Leo.

'We have company.' Annabeth stated in her deathly calm tone- the tone she uses only when she's in danger. I glanced into the rear-view mirror to see what she was talking about but all I could see was Frank pulling Leo's leg out of his face because of the angle.

So I did the natural thing and stuck my head out of the window.

Sure enough, a black Mercedes was slowly gaining on us as we swerved in and out of traffic. Now before you think I was jumping to conclusions, the reason I knew it was unfriendly was because there was a pure gold man half sitting out of the window with a bow drawn straight at us.

'Uh-oh.' Was all I managed before my neck prickled and I twisted my head just in time to see an electric pole approach me at break-neck speed.

It was about to smash into me- and at the speed at which I was moving it would have easily decapitated me had it not been for the hand that yanked me by my shirt back into the car.

'Seaweed Brain, if you could put a little more effort into keeping yourself alive… I'd appreciate it.' Annabeth ground out as she replaced her hand on the wheel and pulled it to the right to over-take a van in front of us.

I would've apologized but Frank bellowed 'Take cover' so loudly that his very voice seemed to sink into my spine and pull it down, forcing me to slide forward off my seat.

It was just in time too because the glass in the rear window shattered and a gold arrow whipped through the car and smashed into the A/C vents. The vents sparked alarmingly and a little tendril of smoke seeped out of the side.

The arrow fell to the floor having broken its tip with the force of impact. Another flurry of sparks jumped out and a few fell on Annabeth's exposed arm. She winced. Hurriedly I tore the lower end of my shirt and tied it around her forearm to protect it before turning around to survey the damage.

'Is everyone okay?'

Muffled replies gave me an affirmative and for the moment, Frank, Hazel and Leo seemed okay even if they had glass strewn all over them. I glanced through the now broken rear window and noticed that a truck was right behind us, thankfully protecting us from the Mercedes for the moment.

A hissing sound drew my attention to the front again and I turned around to see more smoke spew out of the vent.

'If we keep the engine running, that thing is going to catch fire and blow the car up.'

Leo's shaken voice very kindly informed me and just to add effect to his words, the vent sparked enthusiastically. My mind began to race- the car had to be stopped but at the same time if we slowed down the Mercedes would be sure to catch up. There had to be a way to get rid of the Mercedes without letting it get too close…

My eyes snapped open and I felt a familiar rush of adrenalin. I turned to Annabeth, 'Keep us in front of that truck. Don't let it over-take.'

She nodded but hey eyes touched mine for a moment and I knew exactly what she was thinking: _You're going to pull one of your insane stunts again, aren't you?_

I grinned weakly and then turned around.

'Leo, d'you have an explosive on you? Anything to make that Mercedes go boom?'

Leo's brow furrowed in thought and he snapped his fingers near the tool belt wrapped around his waist. Several things flew out of the flaps and I would have continued staring in fascination except Annabeth jerked the wheel to prevent the truck from over-taking and I slammed my head against the headrest.

'Hazel, switch places with me.'

I groaned and then tried to get out of my seat without interfering with Annabeth's driving. It was difficult but I managed and soon Leo, Hazel, Frank and I were squashed in the back.

Then Hazel used me as a ledge and fell into the seat beside Annabeth providing more room at the back. Impressively, Leo was still doggedly building what I hoped was an explosive because he kept pulling out more stuff from his belt and assembling them together at lightning speed.

'So what's the plan?' Frank wheezed and I realized my elbow had sunk into his stomach without me noticing. I pulled it back and fell against Leo as the car swerved again.

Unfortunately this time, the device slipped out of his fingers and fell to the floor just as the car straightened out. Leo and I cursed together and he ducked his head to find it.

'Hazel, see if you can open the sunroof!'

I yelled as Leo scrabbled along the floor looking for the explosive. I really hoped it wasn't ready just yet. Of all the ways I've envisaged dying, getting blown up was not one of them.

'Percy, the controls aren't responding.'

Hazel yelled back as her hands repeatedly hit a variety of buttons. I realized why immediately; the arrow tip was causing everything to short circuit.

Time to improvise.

'Leo once you find the explosive, stay down. Frank lean as far away as you can!'

I instructed quickly as I pulled Riptide out from my pocket. I held it up vertically so that when I uncapped it, the blade rose and went directly through the sunroof, cutting into it easily.

By the way, trying to cut out a square of the roof of a car while said car is madly swerving around is far more difficult than it sounds.

I made the last cut and the square of metal fell away narrowly missing both Frank and me.

'Can I come up now?'

Leo called out from under the seat sounding extremely annoyed. I shouted in affirmative and told Frank to open his door. He looked at me as if I were mad.

I probably was.

'Just do it.'

I said feigning calmness. Frank pushed open his door and I leaned into Leo and used my feet to kick the square of metal out, on to the road. It fell on to the asphalt with a shower of sparks and I devoutly hoped the Mercedes would run over it and maybe puncture a tire.

'Percy, what in gods' name are you trying to do?'

Frank roared above the sound of the wind- which was pretty loud now that we had a door open.

I told him.

For a moment there was complete silence in the car except for the howl of the wind and the hissing of the vent. Then everyone erupted into arguments- especially Annabeth who I heard distinctly, 'This is crazy even for _you _Seaweed Brain.'

I ignored her and looked at Frank.

'You'll need to cover me once I'm on top.'

He hesitated for a second but then nodded determinedly.

'I got your back.'

I let out a relived sigh and Leo handed me the explosive wordlessly, his expression telling me I was probably the most insane guy he'd ever met.

I shoved the explosive into my pocket, reached up and hooked my fingers around the torn edges of the sunroof. It was hard work, hauling myself up and the rough edges cut at my fingers but I managed it without killing myself.

My plan was pretty simple. I was going to jump off the roof of the car on to the roof of the truck from where I could throw the explosive at the Mercedes.

At the crucial moment when I'd be flailing around on top of the truck, Annabeth would let the BMW drift a little sideways so Frank could shoot at the Mercedes, covering me.

If all went well, the Mercedes would blow up and I could jump back into our car when it slowed down.

I took a deep breath, ignored the wind buffeting me and the incensed shouting from the truck driver and leaped forward. Thankfully the truck was close so there wasn't much chance of falling.

Still, my foot slipped as I landed on the bonnet and for one scary moment I thought I was going to roll off the edge but then my fingers found a windshield wiper and I used it to begin my climb upwards.

The truck driver gesticulated wildly but the roar of the wind drowned out everything he said.

He didn't stop the vehicle though and I knew why. The Mercedes must have been right behind the truck (automatons aren't the best drivers in the world) so if he slowed down the Mercedes would plow straight into him.

Also, we were approaching an urban area because the stream of oncoming traffic was thicker than ever preventing both the Mercedes and himself from over-taking.

The poor guy could really do nothing except for drive his truck and yell at me.

I got to the top of the cab and then stepped on to the container attached to it. It wasn't too long so I dropped to my stomach and began crawling forward; I didn't want to give the automaton any more targets to shoot at.

Not a lot of distance was left from the edge so I stopped crawling and pushed my hand into my pocket to find the packets of gum. It was the only thing I could throw over the truck to signal Frank without breaking someone's windshield.

Risking a chance, I inched forward and stuck my head up to see if I could spot the Mercedes. I needn't have bothered; the latter was so close to the truck that even if I fell off the back vertically, I'd still land on its bonnet.

The Automaton who was half-sitting out of the window spotted me immediately and raised his bow. His arrow would have probably shish-kebabed me had it not been for another arrow which whizzed past and punctured one of the front tires.

The Mercedes swerved when the tire blew and the window guy dropped his bow as he desperately sought support. By this time, I'd managed to retrieve the explosive from my pocket and primed it to five seconds. I was just about to throw it, when things stopped going according to plan.

The truck swerved to one side and I realized a moment too late that it was taking advantage of the momentarily cleared lane since the BMW was drifting to the other side to let Frank cover me. My hands scrabbled around to look for something but the top of the container was smooth and I had nothing to hold on to.

Then as a final straw, the engine of the truck revved and added a burst of acceleration. Clearly the driver figured this was as good as any chance to get rid of the maniacs in front, on and behind him because he really let it rip.

I stuck my hand out to look for anything that could support me but my hand only clutched at empty air and the next thing I knew I was falling over the back of the truck.

My angle was such that I didn't fall on the bonnet of the Mercedes, oh no, I fell right _through _its windshield and into the laps of two very surprised automatons.

For a moment all the inhabitants of the car which included four automatons- two in the front and two in the back (window guy had clambered back into the car) and _me _were too astonished to move.

Then my battle instincts kicked it and I uncapped Riptide and pushed it into the joint where the door and the main body of the car connected. It cut through the hinges cleanly until the hilt got stuck in the main frame.

I hit my watch (which Annabeth had returned to me last night) and just as the driver bought his fist down to hit me, the shield activated, taking the blow.

I kicked out at the guy in the shotgun seat and my foot connected pretty well with his shiny abdomen. He was heavy but I managed enough force to throw him into his door.

The door, already weakened by my sword broke and Shotgun guy disappeared through the gap. I managed to sit up and pull my sword out just in time to parry a blow from the backseat. I lopped off one guy's arm and managed to sink my blade into the other guy's torso when the driver reached around and caught me in a choke hold.

I fought and even though he held me with one hand, I didn't have the strength to unclasp his fingers from my neck. I was probably blue in the face when his grip suddenly slackened and I fell to the floor of the sedan.

I looked up and saw my savior- an arrow was sticking out of one of his eyes. He was already beginning to spark up.

A weird creaking sound made me turn my head and to my horror, Shotgun dude's head appeared in the gaping hole where the door had been.

The idiot must have held on to something when I'd pushed him out, I realized and I went through a variety of curses both English and Ancient Greek as I assessed the situation quickly.

I had four automatons to take on and my explosive had fallen into the backseat after I'd fallen into the car. Even if I used it, I'd have to get myself out of the car…

My brain made a connection and I knew what to do immediately. Shotgun dude meanwhile had clambered all the way in and was reaching for me. I wriggled out of his grasp and used his head as support to get off the floor. Once fairly upright, I yanked the steering wheel sideways and the car veered sharply into traffic.

The driver made a weird yaking sound in protest but the arrow in his head wasn't allowing him to function properly- his fingers kept gripping and releasing the wheel.

I prayed that no car would hit us as I crawled into the backseat and pulled out my sword from one guy's torso. Electricity flashed and he trembled, accidentally hitting One Arm dude in the face.

Finally I spotted the explosive. I caught hold of it, hit the red button and threw myself out of the backdoor narrowly missing Shotgun dude's grasping fingers.

Thankfully my less than stellar performance with the steering wheel had worked and I didn't become road kill. Instead I hit the grassy bank on the side of the road just as the explosion ripped through the Mercedes.

Funny thing about rolling down a hill at eighty miles an hour- it's over before you know it. Fortunately for me, the bank leveled out into a muddy river which I splashed into with great gusto.

Unfortunately for me, its bed was made up of several large, pointy stones. I cracked my head on one of them and blacked out immediately.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I have news for you guys. Updating is going to be difficult because I have two very important exams- Maths and Economics in the next week. However, I promise you that exactly seven days from now the next chapter will be up.**

**To one reviewer who asked about Jason and Piper- as I said earlier I fully intend on writing about them as well but just towards the end of this story as both of them are unfortunately stuck at Camp Jupiter at the present and events of little importance are taking place there.**

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><p><strong>11) I Decide To Do The Worst. <strong>

**Leo**

I watched Percy climb on to the roof of our car with a sense foreboding. The guy was utterly out of his mind if he thought his plan was going to work successfully. Normally, I'd be cheering him on on his mad escapade but after my dream last night I had a strange feeling that Percy was going to end up as road kill.

Meanwhile, the A/C vent was spewing smoke and making some really weird noises. I knew it wouldn't be long before the entire apparatus caught fire.

Frank climbed over and pushed me unceremoniously to one side, jerking me out of my dismal thoughts. I protested but then realized that he needed my door to cover Percy. Sure enough, he opened the door and half-climbed out of the seat, gesturing at me to hand him his bow.

I took it off the floor and passed it to him. Impressively the guy managed to string his bow and nock an arrow while balancing his weight on the edge of the seat.

Annabeth jerked the wheel violently and I grabbed Frank's shirt to prevent him from toppling out of the car. I caught him just in time and he thanked me shoving by his foot into my face.

'Oof.' I glared at him.

'Sorry.' He looked apologetic so I didn't say anything and together we maneuvered to get him into position. An acrid smell filled my nostrils and the front of the car shuddered lightly. Don't ask me how but I knew we had less than ten minutes before the front section caught fire.

Annabeth began to let the car drift sideways and behind us the truck honked away angrily. I wondered briefly as to what he was going to tell his wife when he got home.

_Honey, you wouldn't believe the trip I just made…_

Frank tensed and I looked up just as he fired his first arrow. At the position I was in, I couldn't see much. I was on my stomach with both hands, holding Frank to prevent him from falling out and my legs were folded up against the other window.

If I strained my neck I could see the damaged vent which oddly enough Hazel was bent over. Annabeth let the car drift some more to give Frank a better line of sight when suddenly the truck's horn blasted loudly behind us.

'What the-?'

I asked but my words died as Annabeth yanked us into oncoming traffic and the truck roared passed- blowing his horn like an engine driver.

I cursed and pulled Frank in right before he got brained by a car roaring past in the opposite direction. We both fell back into the car as Annabeth got us back over the right side of the divider.

Frank and I scrambled up and this time he leaned back and shot through the broken rear window now that there was no truck to block his arrows.

His shot was amazing because it got the… was that an automaton? My throat constricted and I felt faintly nauseous- which was different because I've _never _suffered from any kind of motion sickness.

Frank got another arrow ready but then let it drop and said in an awed tone, 'Holy Jupiter.'

I looked up and saw the mayhem taking place in the Mercedes. Then Percy surfaced and pushed the steering wheel to one side making the car jump into the other lane- just as we had done a few minutes.

'What is he doing?'

I asked but Frank didn't answer me. Percy disappeared into the backseat and then there was a brief confusion as several things happened at once. The driver of the Mercedes struggled to steer the car but he wasn't managing very well. I didn't blame his less than stellar driving skills- he had a freaking arrow in his eye.

'Percy just jumped out of the car.'

Frank said in a daze.

'What?'

But my words were drowned out by an exploding Mercedes. The shock-wave caused all the windows in our car to shatter and I lifted my arms to protect my face. Annabeth executed the most perfect 180 degree spin across both lanes and stopped us on the side of the road, facing the opposite direction.

There was a moment of relieved silence and then Annabeth hopped out in a flash, followed closely by Frank. I watched them run down the grassy bank and really hoped Percy wasn't dead. Technically, my father _had _offered me a choice- surely he wouldn't have gone back on his word?

'Leo, can you fix this thing?'

Hazel's uneasy voice roused me and I focused on her face. She was really quite pretty now that I looked closely.

Then the vent hissed ominously and I jumped into action. I didn't have time to fix anything so I went into damage control mode and searched for the tip of the gold arrow- the source of all the trouble.

'It's here.'

Hazel held it up in her hand. I raised my eyebrow at her and she shrugged and didn't quite meet my eye.

'I… um, took it out.'

I wanted to ask her how she'd taken it out without electrocuting herself but the vent was by no means safe so I shut up and went back to work.

I took out the music system and put my hand through its hole pulling out all the wires which were burnt or smoking. Thankfully none of the ones required for running the engine were damaged.

'Could you…hold this for me?'

I asked Hazel as I tried to find room around a bunch of wires to get my hand in further. She hesitated but then used one finger to hold them away. I rolled my eyes and went back to work.

'So erm… you fix cars a lot?

Hazel asked, studiously speaking to her hands. I paused for a moment and then took out pliers from my tool belt and began peeling wires.

'Yeah… I've, uh always been a grease monkey.'

I had a sudden memory of me running around with a screwdriver and my mom chasing after me. It was a good memory, a fun memory but it still felt painful to remember. My hands shook a little.

'Oh. That's… cool.'

I looked at her but again she didn't meet my eye. I snorted and took back the wires she clutched. I noticed she trembled when I touched her finger accidentally. What was her problem?

She moved away as soon as she was relieved of her burden and looked out of the window.

'Hey they found Percy. Thank Jupiter.'

Her tone changed completely and she leaped out of the car. I finished clipping wires and followed her.

Percy was being helped up the slope by Frank and Annabeth. Their arms were around his waist and from what I could see; he was leaning heavily on them. Hazel met them halfway and took Frank's side. All three of them managed to drag Percy up and finally sit him down on the grass.

'Nectar and ambrosia.' Annabeth murmured and Frank leaped to it. Annabeth helped Percy lean against one of the tires and called for a bottle of water as well. Percys was covered with dirt and he seemed to be bleeding from the side of his head. His neck had weird red marks and I remembered that an Automaton had tried to strangle him.

He held the left side of his chest gingerly- maybe he had a bruised rib.

Still, for a guy who had thrown himself down a hill, he looked pretty good. Annabeth tore his already ripped T-shirt and wet the cloth to clean his various cuts. Percy groaned when she accidentally hit his injured side in a bid to wash the dirt away.

I felt a twinge of guilt- if I'd listened to my father, none of this would have happened.

Frank came back with the nectar and ambrosia and shoved a square into Percy's mouth. Annabeth took the nectar and began dabbing it on all of his cuts and bruises, including the nasty one on his head.

'You guys better use this too.'

She held out the bottle to me and with a start I realized even I had cuts all over me- probably from the exploding glass. I dutifully dabbed myself all over, trying not to wince when they stung. After I was done I handed it to Hazel who was very particular about the way she took it from me.

I prevented myself from rolling my eyes and instead took the square of ambrosia which Frank gave me.

'How badly is the car damaged?'

Annabeth asked once she'd finished with Percy.

'The engine is fine but the entire front section is fried. Music player, A/C, windshield wipers, sat-nav, airbags… all of the wires are burnt.'

Annabeth took a sip of water.

'Anything you want to do?'

I nodded and finished the remaining portion of ambrosia. Percy, I noticed was sitting up straight now. His bruises had vanished and there was only dried blood on his face.

'I'll unscrew the section. I don't want the burnt wires to just sit there.'

Annabeth nodded and I took it as my cue to start. I climbed into the passenger seat and began unscrewing the vent. From outside I heard Percy say something and I froze.

'Why were automatons trying to kill us?'

There was a moment of silence and then Frank spoke.

'What do you mean?'

I resumed what I was doing noiselessly.

'Monsters. I'd expect monsters trying to kill us. Not automatons.'

Percy explained and I devoutly hoped he wouldn't ask for my opinion because I was Hephaestus' son.

'Huh. Maybe Gaia felt that Automatons were more reliable.'

Hazel said and I took a moment to observe how different she sounded when she wasn't talking to me. Maybe she just didn't like Greeks.

'Yeah. But it doesn't make sense.'

Percy said vigorously. No-one replied and I felt my shoulders relax a little. Maybe there were bored of the conversation. I certainly was.

'How far are we from LA?'

Frank asked and I resisted the urge to kiss him for changing the topic.

'About two hours.'

Annabeth replied and then there was another beat of silence. Then Hazel sighed and said, 'I hope there isn't a welcoming committee waiting for us when we reach.'

No-one had anything to say to that.

* * *

><p>It took me about ten minutes to finish removing all the unnecessary wires and screw the board back into place. I worked alone, except for Percy and Annabeth who were still sitting outside the car.<p>

Hazel and Frank had gone to stretch their legs and look for signs of the automatons, in case they survived the explosion. I doubted it; I might be a crappy person but anything I made was definitely not crappy.

When I finished, we all got back into the car (after dusting off the glass) set off again. The lack of windows made it impossible for anyone to talk and I was grateful for that.

I watched the scenery fly past and thought about my dream- I had a decision to make.

My dream had started off pretty great- me with a bunch of pretty ladies in a jacuzzi till my dad decided to crash the party. Literally.

The entire image had cracked into several pieces and the next thing I knew I had been sitting _in _a volcano opposite my dad. Of course I use the word '"dad" in the loosest sense- it was Vulcan and he'd wore a really stern expression.

'_Leo, isn't it?' _He'd rumbled.

'_Erm.. yes?' _I'd answered.

He'd glared at then corrected me, _'Yes __**sir.**__'_

I'd pretty much lost any temporary feelings of affection I had for him after that. He'd however, gone on to give me a big speech about how little cogs spin in a giant wheel and how ever person had to do something to help achieving the main goal.

I'd nodded politely every time time he'd looked up but I hadn't paid any attention… that is, till he'd dropped a bombshell.

'_You have to work for Gaia.'_

'_I… what?'_

He'd wanted me to become an agent of sorts- that is to pretend to be working for Gaia for some time. I'd refused point-blank; there was no way I was going to work for some creepy sludge woman. My father hadn't been pleased by my refusal and he'd fixed his beady eyes on me.

'_Understand this, Leo. By pretending to work for her.. you will ultimately help defeat her.'_

'_That's ridiculous.'_

We'd argued back and forth for a good few minutes till he'd slammed his fist on a rock in frustration.

'_You refuse then, to do as I say?'_

'_Refuse? Well duh! You're out of your mind!'_

Which by the way hadn't been the greatest thing to say to a god. I'd thought he'd vaporize me instantly but instead he'd given me a choice.

'_Very well Leo. I see you need time to think. We will speak again and I shall offer you one last chance to right things.'_

'_And if I say no then as well?'_

His eyes had glittered with anger but he still hadn't squashed me.

'_Oh I think you'll agree by then. I'm sure I can… ah, persuade you.'_

And that had been the end of the conversation and my dream. When I'd woken up I'd found a pack ready by the side of my bunk. The front pockets had all the usual supplies but the main pocket had a note stuck above a huge bulge saying:

**You'll Need This.**

I had no intention of pissing Vulcan off again so I'd brought it along. The damn thing weighed a ton but even so I hadn't been curious about what was actually in the main pocket.

That had been in the morning. Now I knew exactly what my father meant by 'persuasion.' The automatons were a warning; if I didn't agree to his terms he was going to make the quest exceedingly difficult.

I shifted uncomfortably as we got closer and closer to LA. There was tension in the car and I was responsible for it. I couldn't afford to bring Percy more problems on his quest so as we entered LA, I made my decision.

I would do as my father said but first he needed to give me a little information.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Like I promised. Also, to all you reviewers, the story's heating up. Any guesses as to where the plot is going?**

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><p><strong>12) I Come Up With A Nickname!<strong>

**Frank**

We pulled into LA at about 1.30 which I figured wasn't bad at all- especially after being chased by gold automatons.

Thankfully, after we found Percy, Annabeth _insisted _on driving the rest of the way which I was secretly quite grateful for. Percy's gash might have healed but I wasn't sure if he didn't have any internal damage.

Though from the things he did, he might have been dropped a lot as a kid anyway.

The latter half of the drive to LA had not been fun. Every black Mercedes which we passed was subject to a thorough inspection which made us all tense and irritable as the hours passed.

Of course my situation with Hazel didn't help my mood. Gaia's words from the night before had really shaken me even if I did my best to pay them no heed. The possibility that Hazel could like someone else was _agonizingly _real. I mean seriously, I wasn't the smartest kid on the block nor was I the best looking. The only thing which I had going for me (aside from archery) was my shape-shifting ability and even then which girl would fall for a guy who could turn into an elephant?

For all I knew, Hazel had more chances of liking Octavian than me.

LA didn't impress me too much. Maybe it was because of my less than happy disposition but the city didn't appeal to me at all.

'So… you remember where the Recording studio is right?'

Annabeth broke the silence as we turned off the main highway and drove deeper into the city. I exchanged a confused glance with Hazel but she shrugged her shoulders showing me she didn't know what was being talked about either.

Percy rubbed the side of his head gingerly and answered, 'Yeah… take the left here.'

He continued giving directions and I checked out every car which drove past us, looking for the tell-tale flash of gold. Next to me, Hazel did the same. However, Leo appeared lost in thought.

I didn't quite know what to make of him. At time he'd seemed fun-to the point of annoying even but then he would descend into periods of gloom which made me wonder if he was suffering from depression. He caught me looking at him and raised his eyebrow.

I hurriedly went back to checking cars.

'Er, guys?'

Leo interrupted Percy after rolling his eyes pointedly at me.

'Yeah?'

Annabeth answered sounding incredibly weary. I didn't blame her, if I had a significant other like Percy I'd have pulled out my short hair a long time ago.

'Can we please eat something before we get to this all important recording studio?

Percy laughed and I suddenly realized how hungry I was.

"Yeah, sure. I think there's a Burger King somewhere here.'

Leo let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. Hazel grinned at me and I tried to grin back but it didn't come out quite right. She must've noticed because she looked away, fairly confused. I swore to myself, the next time I met Gaia I was going to pound her till she was dust.

Of course the fact that she was the whole earth didn't bother me. At all.

The car rolled to a stop and the flurry of movement distracted me from my thoughts.

'Are we leaving our weapons in here?'

Hazel asked and Percy frowned in thought.

'You have your knife?'

He asked, looking to Annabeth. She rolled her eyes and shut her door.

'Obviously.'

Percy didn't react to her sarcasm and merely moved on to Leo.

'Hammer?'

'Always with me.'

Leo answered cheerily, patting his tool belt. It looked so out of place on his clothes that I figured if a Monster was going to find us, it would be because of the way he looked, not the way he smelled.

'We should be okay. Leave the bow and the sword in the car.'

I didn't want to leave my bow but I could see Percy's logic. Burger King would be crowded- somebody could easily shove me and break it. I shut my door and joined Leo and Hazel at the doorway. Leo's eyes looked like they were going to pop out.

'It's just food.'

I muttered at him as a bunch of people our age walked out of the door without even noticing us. Leo turned to me, his expression bordering on starvation.

'Do you know how _long _it's been since I've had a burger?'

I opened my mouth to argue when I realized it'd been quite a while since I'd eaten at Burger King as well. Between Camp Jupiter and the quest to Alaska, I'd definitely missed the place.

Hazel was staring at the board a little doubtfully.

'This… is a restaurant?'

'A fast-food joint.' Leo corrected automatically and then his eyes widened comically. 'How have you never had Burger King before?' He demanded incredulously. Hazel flushed in embarrassment and I stepped in immediately.

'It's not like this place has the best burgers, you know.'

I said and Hazel shot me a grateful look. Leo opened his mouth (no doubt to hotly disagree with me) when Percy interrupted him.

'Are we going to stand around here or are we going in?'

I grinned at Leo and pushed open the door. I had been right; the place was so crowded that I couldn't see an empty table in sight. Scratch that, there was no empty _space _in sight.

'We'll order. You guys go upstairs and find us a place. Any requests?'

Percy said, his hand encircling Annabeth's wrist. I got the feeling that he wanted to talk to her alone so I ordered quickly both for myself and Hazel (who was looking fairly lost) and then dragged Leo upstairs before he could add anymore to his already convoluted list.

The floor above was less crowded. I spotted an empty table and bagged it before someone else did. Hazel took the chair next to me and Leo sat down opposite her. I conducted an automatic sweep of the room and stopped in surprise when I noticed a guy sitting not too far from us.

He was easily older- around 19 or 20 and he had the sort of features I often wished to possess—a strong jaw and straight nose. His hair was a dark brown and he had (by my estimation) a three day scruff on his cheeks.

But none of this struck me as odd. Oh no, it was his eyes –they were bright blue- and staring straight at me. We stared at each other for a moment and then his eyes jumped to Hazel and then Leo after which they dropped back to his fries.

An unpleasant feeling flowed into my stomach and I suddenly didn't feel too hungry anymore. I had a strange suspicion that the guy knew _exactly _who we were and had been waiting for us to arrive.

I decided to keep an eye on him, just in case as Leo restarted the burger argument. I answered half-heartedly and when he proved his point with a triumphant flourish I merely smiled weakly and leaned forward.

'Suspicious guy; 10o' clock.'

Leo didn't turn around like I expected him to but lifted the menu from the table and began examining nonchalantly. Hazel, who was sitting next to me checked him out discreetly and said in an appreciative tone, 'If he's a monster, the mist makes him look quite handsome, doesn't it?'

I was instantly jealous and Gaia's words echoed in my head again.

_She loves the flame-bearer…_

What if the flame-bearer turned out to be some ridiculously good looking monster?

I shook my head. Now I was being ridiculous.

I saw Percy and Annabeth appear in the doorway and I jumped up to help them with the five trays they were sporting. I squeezed past a couple of workmen who were occupying the table next to ours and approached them quickly.

'Probable monster on the table diagonally opposite ours.'

I said in an undertone and relieved Annabeth of a tray which was so heavily loaded I figured it had to be Leo's. Percy stiffened slightly but didn't say anything as we made our way back to Leo and Hazel.

I slid back into my seat and passed Leo his tray when Annabeth, who'd occupied the seat on my left spoke, 'Brown hair and blue eyes? That's our monster?'

I nodded and unwrapped my burger, trying very hard to make casual movements. Percy handed over Hazel's tray and sat down opposite me in the seat next to Leo.

'You know… it's almost like I've seen him somewhere before.'

Annabeth murmured as she took a sip of her coke. Percy raised his eyebrow.

'Seen him before?'

'Yeah… on Olympus, maybe?'

I choked on my fry and Hazel had to pat my back as I coughed it back up. Percy looked astounded as well so I knew I wasn't hearing things.

'A monster in Olympus? That's crazy… not to mention impossible!'

Annabeth shrugged and took a bit of her burger. I tried not to gape at her in amazement. She'd been to _Olympus. _The abode of the god's! How insanely awesome was that?

'So, what's the plan?'

Hazel asked, staring at Leo who was gulping down food faster that anyone I'd ever seen.

'Eat quickly. Maybe he hasn't noticed us yet.'

Percy said reassuringly but I didn't think that was true. The guy/monster _definitely_ knew who we were. He was just waiting… for something.

The workman next to us gave a sudden belch and stood up hurriedly knocking over his empty glass. His companion scowled and snarled at him to sit down.

Wait a minute… _snarled?_

A sudden realization was just forming in my head when monster-guy stood up, holding his fries in his hand.

'Eat this, losers.'

He threw them at the standing workman. The man tottered back into our table (around which we were all beginning to stand) and his snarling companion stood up and pushed his table at monster-guy.

All hell broke loose after that.

Monster-guy sidestepped the table easily, pulled a sword out of somewhere and stuck it into the workman. It slid into the latter's body with a hiss and the workman disintegrated into a cloud of dust.

Meanwhile, Annabeth had grabbed and pulled me around our table just as the other workman (or really monster) turned to us. His eyes were the color of a swamp and when he opened his mouth I counted three rows of rotten teeth.

It was, _by far, _the most disgusting sight I'd ever seen.

Annabeth pulled out her dagger and swung at the monster but he dodged and hit Percy (who'd been trying to sneak up with him) with his elbow.

I grabbed Annabeth's arm and we dived over a table together. Screams had already filled the air and from the noise I could tell that the other customers were trying to escape as fast as possible. I rolled to my feet just as Leo charged the monster with his hammer. The strike missed completely and Leo was about to get bitten when the monster stopped moving, a surprised expression forming on his face.

A sword- which wasn't Riptide- stuck out of the middle of his chest.

The monster stumbled forward and fell down on one knee, his hand stuck deep in his pocket. The sword in his chest withdrew leaving a gaping hole which I could see right through.

The monster gurgled and then his hand reappeared, free from the pocket. He was clenching something in his fist, something which he threw straight at me before exploded into dust.

I ducked, avoiding the flying object by a hairsbreadth. It crashed into something behind me and as I got to my feet again, the brown-haired guy (who was most definitely not a monster) cursed and shouted, 'RUN!' before disappearing through the exit. I was all set to follow his advice when a shriek made me turn around, just in time to see a very strange sight indeed.

Hazel was (unsuccessfully) fighting off a _vending machine_.

I yelled and ran forward but I slipped on someone's spilled coke and went down hard, hitting my head soundly on the floor. For a moment stars danced around me and I heard a lot of confused noises. Then I blinked and my vision swam back into focus.

Someone- Annabeth had dragged me back behind a fallen table. In front of us, looming large (and fairly comically if it hadn't been for our desperate situation) was another vending machine.

The vinyl painted on it _blinked _at us and reached forward threateningly. Both of us shrank back and I realized Annabeth had dropped her knife- it was way across the room next to Leo who had climbed on top of the vending machine fighting Hazel.

To the left us, Percy was slashing away with Riptide at yet another vending machine. Even as I watched, he cut it cleanly in two and turned to us but he was too far away to help.

The machine in front of me cocked a painted eyebrow and rattled ominously. I had no doubt it was about to execute us most painfully and I was thus preparing myself for an early reunion with my Grandmother when Annabeth reached forward and pushed a coin into the slot on the machine.

It stopped and whirred. I watched in amazement as the vinyl eyes fluttered as though it was suffering from dizziness. Then, with another whir, a small transparent object came shooting out of the change slot.

It would have hit me had it not been for Annabeth who caught it expertly in mid-air.

The machine, over its confusion now, moved closer and then abruptly fell apart in two revealing a very disheveled Percy and a gleaming Riptide.

I got to my feet immediately just as Leo stuck his hand into a panel on top of the machine strangling Hazel and pull out a bunch of wires. The machine released Hazel and went _kaput. _

The five of us stared at each other, breathing heavily. The entire floor was a mess; food, drink, tables and monster dust was scattered everywhere.

'Well. At least I'm not hungry anymore.'

Leo said, picking up his hammer from the floor.

* * *

><p>'So… <em>that's <em>one of the Pearls?'

I asked, pointing at the round object Annabeth held in her hand. It had been transparent when it had nearly taken out my head but now it was a deep, rich purple.

'Yes. I'm sure it is I can feel the power.'

I leaned back with a sigh and tried to process the amount of information I'd just been given.

After escaping Burger King (thankfully without being arrested), we'd stumbled into the BMW and driven like mad people till Percy calmed us down and led us to DOA Recording studio (which turned out to be the entrance to the Underworld, who knew?).

Then sitting in the car, we'd discussed monster-guy (as I insisted he was to be called) and his coincidental placement but then realized eventually there was little more we could do except for speculate. Before we'd gotten out however Annabeth had stopped us, saying we needed to know a few things.

And then she'd spent the next ten minutes explaining about her mother's dream, the coin she'd found at the convenience store and what the little purple marble she held in her hand was really worth.

'So what does this mean for the quest? Are we rescuing Nico or finding the missing Pearl?'

Leo asked finally breaking the silence in the car. Annabeth exchanged a glance with Percy and then sighed.

'Nico is still our main objective… and the curse of Achilles. But if there's an opportunity to find the other Pearl, I'll have to take it.'

'You're _sure _there are two?'

Hazel asked, speaking for the first time since Burger King. The vending machine hadn't really hurt her but I had a feeling she wasn't going to ever want a burger again.

'Positive. My mother told me specifically.'

Annabeth answered. I sighed unhappily and caught Percy's worried expression before he wiped it clean and said with false enthusiasm, 'So we'll multi-task. We'll be fine.'

I couldn't help but think that _fine _was a word that was rarely (if ever) found in a demigod's dictionary as I got out of the car and stood staring at the building which was the entrance to the Underworld.

Percy gave me an encouraging smile and pushed open the door.

I took a deep breath and followed him in.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: And I'm back! I'm so sorry for not updating- my stupid internet stopped working and then my computer crashed. Meh, it never rains, they say, it freaking pours. **

**On a more serious note though, I have my school-ending examinations in March. They're basically the "cornerstone of my future" and I cannot afford to screw them up so my updates might be a little sporadic. To be clear, I'm NOT giving up on this story, its just moved down the list of my priorities. **

**Reviewers- Thanks as always. An extra-long chapter for you guys!**

* * *

><p><strong>13) I Come Home- To The Place I Don't Belong. <strong>

**Hazel**

The entrance to the Underworld wasn't anything like I expected. Sure, I'd been to the Underworld before (back when I sacrificed myself to stop Gaia and her son from rising) but for some reason I could only remember bits and pieces of the trip.

I remembered Charon clearly (with his weird British accent no less) and everything that came after- walls, dog, judges, Fields of Asphodel but I didn't have any idea what came before the boatman.

I supposed that being a Daughter of Pluto; I'd simply sunk through the earth and landed straight into his boat.

I followed Frank in and stopped in surprise when we entered a huge ballroom. It had a fairly low ceiling and the walls had paint peeling off it. There were gold tapestries, probably depicting some sort of event once upon a time but now they were torn, burnt and scratched so much that they simply looked like bits of gold foil which you tore off chocolates.

All in all, the room had an air of forgotten elegance about it and milling around, looking like a mass of grey faces were…

'Are these people… _dead?_'

Leo stage whispered causing several of nearest faces to turn to us in melancholy curiosity.

'Yes, don't talk to anyone. And follow me.'

Percy admonished and began walking through the crowd quickly. It took me a moment to realize what was bothering me and I tapped Frank on the shoulder as we started after Percy.

Frank turned, inquiringly.

'They… aren't _Lares._'

I whispered in what I thought was a discreet tone but Annabeth, who was walking behind me, next to Leo, heard and answered.

'No they aren't. It's because they haven't been judged yet.'

'Well, _what _are they waiting for?'

Leo demanded loudly and I winced. Percy shot us a warning look over his shoulder as he maneuvered us through the crows carefully.

'They're waiting for a ride to the Underworld.'

Annabeth answered in a tone which made it perfectly clear that despite the fact that she'd been here before, she still hadn't gotten used to it. I avoided looking any of the grey faces in the eye and briefly entertained the thought of slipping my hand into Frank's. Leo's question stopped me.

'So the ride isn't here yet?'

This time there was no mistaking the flash of murderous rage on several of the people next to us. Their eyes bored into mine and I heard Frank gulp audibly beside me.

'Leo…' I started, my fright of the not-quite-dead-people making me forget who I was talking to for a moment '…could you please, shut up?'

I caught the brief smile of Frank's face and that made me feel marginally better. Suddenly the crowd around us lessened abruptly as though we were entering sacred ground and through the empty spaces I could see the floor. It was the color of puke.

In front of me, Percy slowed to a stop and Frank and I angled ourselves so we wound up on his left shoulder.

We'd reached the end of the room and I could see the shut doors of a fairly ornate elevator opposite me. Between the elevator and us, stretched a thick, blood-red, velvet rope and behind the rope, manning an ancient desk, sat a man.

I recognized Charon at once even though he seemed to have aged considerably since I last saw him. His hair, which had been greasy earlier, now hung like a lank curtain around him. There were deep lines around his face and his mouth was stretched into a grin- which looked a little forced to me. His eyes flickered over us as though they wanted to run off in opposite directions. His entire frame trembled- either with energy or excitement or suppressed rage.

'Charon, hey!'

Percy said, false cheerfulness dripping all over his words. Charon's flickering eyes left me and moved over all of us. I thought of the last time I'd been here; he'd virtually bowed and scraped me on to his boat. Now, he didn't even seem to recognize me.

Charon appraised Percy and his lips parted forcibly to show a set of slightly stained, yellow teeth.

'Jackson! And… your other friend as well.'

Charon nodded to Annabeth and I noticed his accent had undergone a change. It sounded strange as though he wasn't putting as much enthusiasm into it as he had earlier, making it a curious mix of American with a British twang.

'But… where is the goat?'

His words didn't make the least bit of sense but Percy nodded as though he frequently discussed his pet animals with the underworld's receptionist.

'He's umm… busy. But, we…, ah need a ride to the Underworld.'

Charon stared at him, his right eye twitching a little.

'I'm willing to pay of course.'

Percy said, smoothly sliding over a few denarii on to the table. Charon jerked as though he'd been shot and his eyes widened till he looked decidedly demented.

'Pay… ment? No, no. I've been told to give passage to Percy Jackson and his companions.'

'By Lord Hades?'

Percy asked hopefully and I got a weird feeling in my stomach at the mention of my father. Charon simply grinned in reply and unhooked one end of the velvet rope to let us through.

As I crossed to the other side, I became aware of the sudden increase in energy behind us. I half- turned and nearly whimpered at the sight I saw.

The waiting grey people had worked themselves into frenzy and were pushing forward to reach us but Charon flicked his finger irritably and they all fell back, pushed by some unseen force.

Despair filled their faces and some cried piteously.

Leo shoved me around before I could take in anymore.

'Are you crazy? Do you _want _nightmares_?'_

I didn't answer his rhetorical question, too upset to think things through. Why weren't those people allowed in? Why was my father discriminating against them? Would they be forced to spend the rest of _eternity _standing around, hoping for Charon to let them through?

I took a huge steadying breath, forcing myself to stay focused. Leo squeezed my shoulder lightly and his touch sent my already thumping heart off like a cheetah. I noticed Frank looking at me worriedly and I gave him a tight grin, hoping he wouldn't ask.

He didn't.

Charon appeared next to me, evidently finished with the rope and walked to the call button for the elevator- except he didn't need to use it. As he neared the doors, they opened automatically, revealing a shiny compact space which was quite different from the exterior of the machine.

We followed him in and I shifted around so that I could stand farthest from him. The constant movement of his eyes really unsettled me.

The steel walls of the elevator shuddered and a sense of panic seized me- was it going to dive into the ground at breakneck speed?

I wish it had because what happened next was _far _weirder.

The floor and walls glowed brightly and then melted away till it looked like I was standing on nothing. Then, with a start, I realized that the floor was actually made of wooden planks.

I looked up and I was just in time to see the rest of the elevator cabin transform itself into a barge. It was fairly long and we were all spaced out along the (only) deck. Leo, Annabeth and Frank were clustered near the bow while Percy and I were somewhere in the middle.

Further behind us, Charon had pulled out a long pole from somewhere and was reaching over the side of the barge with it.

Curiosity overcame me and I walked to the side and peered over. Now you'd think that since the Styx has always been described as a river, it would, in fact, be a river.

But a river, it was most definitely not.

It appeared to me as an insubstantial white haze until I realized that if I looked closely I could see objects in it. Not only that, the objects seemed to be a _part _of it.

I looked down further and I saw the barge sail through a broken baby rattle as though it was water. The sight was incredibly mesmerizing and I felt an uncontrollable urge to reach out and touch the haze.

Abruptly, a hand on my shoulder pulled me back.

'Don't. You'll burn away!'

Percy's voice cleared my dazed thoughts and shook me out of the spell. I pulled my hand back protectively, feeling nauseous.

'I- did you say, _burn away?_'

I asked Percy, my throat clogging over the words. He nodded, his green eyes studying me for a moment before drifting over the top of my head. I turned around and saw the beginnings of a scenery take shape.

The landscape consisted of dry land with scorched trees and black grass. The banks on both sides of the river were littered with broken things- toys, machines, furniture. Indistinguishable shapes formed and merged in the shadows of the trees.

'That's the Underworld… already?'

I asked Percy quietly suddenly aware that I knew precious little of what the Underworld actually consisted of, except for a few names and the Fields of Asphodel of course.

'No… that's- I don't know actually. I've never seen these lands before.'

Percy answered hesitantly and in the gloom of the surroundings his face stood out in high relief- making him look harsh and unforgiving.

I blinked and shook myself. My thoughts were running a little too wild for my taste. I let my gaze travel to the front of the barge where Annabeth and Leo were deep in conversation. Frank stood next to them, his head cocked to one side, listening.

'You've, er… managed well.'

Percy said suddenly and I looked at him to see that he had followed my gaze to the front.

'What?'

He shrugged uncomfortably and rested his hand on the wooden railing.

'With Leo, I meant. It must be erm… difficult.'

I felt my stomach twist in embarrassment and didn't say anything.

'Listen, don't take this the wrong way but… what does Frank have to say about Leo?'

I reminded myself that Percy was genuinely concerned about me and the least I could do was give him an honest answer.

'He- he doesn't know.'

I muttered shamefacedly, keeping my gaze fixed on the wooden floorboards of the barge. There was a beat of silence and then Percy asked gently, 'Why haven't you told him?'

I considered the question carefully. Why hadn't I told Frank? The answer was fairly obvious. Frank _liked me. _Telling him that I was kinda-sorta obsessed with my old boyfriend's probable grandson would hurt him. Deeply.

But there was another reason too. Frank was possibly the only person (aside from Percy) who respected me despite my less than stellar lineage. I didn't want to lose that respect- and I was pretty sure that telling him I was unable to let go of my past would be make me seem weak. A Roman _never _showed weakness.

'It's complicated. I don't… want people to get hurt.'

I said lamely and risked a peek at Percy. He wasn't looking at me which was relieving. He was still looking towards the bow.

'Do you love him? Leo, I mean.'

I wanted to answer with a vehement "no" but that would have been a lie and I really didn't want to lie to my only other good friend.

'I don't know.'

I said honestly. Percy nodded understandingly. I followed his gaze and suddenly realized that he was looking primarily at Annabeth. Sudden inspiration flooded through me.

'Did _you _ever "not know..?" With Annabeth?'

I asked. Percy smiled faintly and finally looked down at me, his amused expression telling me that he knew exactly what I was up to.

'For a few months, I guess. I was… confused.'

'Was there someone else?'

I asked immediately and then watched in amazement as he blushed.

'Well, I guess you could say there was. For both of us.'

He frowned a little at the last thought.

'What happened?'

I wasn't normally this curious but I was suddenly aware of how little I actually knew of him. Annabeth represented a whole side of Percy I didn't know.

'Nothing too dramatic really. I chose Annabeth… though now that I think about it, I think it's more accurate to say that _she _picked _me._'

He grimaced at that as though he'd lost a competition.

'What happened to the other girl?'

Percy shrugged.

'We're still friends. Turns out, she didn't like me after all.'

He said with a self-deprecating grin. I didn't believe him, he was possibly the most likeable person I'd ever met, aside from Frank. Girls probably fell all over him. They certainly had these last couple of days, what with his brilliant victory over Polybotes and his election to Praetor.

I looked out over the "water" and saw a dark mass approaching.

'Could I give you a piece of really bad advice?'

Percy asked, pulling terrible imitation of a wise expression. I grinned at him. 'Go for it.' He became a little thoughtful and I knew he was choosing his words carefully.

'It probably seems like a really hard decision for you right now, to choose between Frank and Leo but when the time comes, you'll know for sure who you want. You're a strong person Hazel, and you know what's best for you. So don't waste time worrying now. Everything will turn out fine, in the end.'

I refrained from rolling my eyes but then gave up and rolled them anyway.

'That… is indeed, _really_ bad advice, O Wise One.'

He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders in an "I-told-you-so" manner. I sighed mock theatrically.

'You speak from personal experience I assume?'

He scrunched up his eyes and tilted his head back so he could look down his nose at me.

'But of course, my young apprentice. My infinite knowledge comes from my many divine experiences in the mortal world.'

His manner, which I supposed came from imitating his idea of a wise man fell flat because he sounded like he was still recovering from a really bad cold. I burst out laughing and he joined in.

Eventually when we'd both calmed down sufficiently, I entertained the idea of actually asking about his "moment." But before I made up my mind, the barge bumped into something and I stumbled.

'Destination: Underworld!'

Charon called out cheerfully from behind us and I saw Percy frown. I wondered what was bothering him but when I turned around I forgot all about it because,

I had reached my father's kingdom.

I craned my neck to take in the familiar tall black walls on either side of the gate in the center. Lines of people snaked their way through and around the gate and I heard a distant boom which sounded suspiciously like Cerberus.

Percy tapped me on the shoulder, reminding me that it was time to move. Charon had run his barge aground so all we had to do was jump over the sides.

I nearly twisted my ankle in the process but at least I was better than Leo. Since he couldn't jump with his huge pack, it had to be dropped over the edge before he jumped, for Percy and Frank to catch.

Finally we all gathered around, in the shadow of the barge. Frank helped Leo struggle to put his pack back on and Charon approached Percy.

'Jackson. Through the gate if you please. You're arrival has been expected.'

'By Lord Hades, I hope?'

Percy asked, inquiringly and I caught a slight edge to his tone. Charon must have noticed it to because he glanced suspiciously at him. Then he inclined his head gravely and looked at me.

I saw the flash of recognition, even though it was momentary and I raised my eyebrows at him. For a moment he simply stared unblinkingly at me but then with one last nod he turned around and strode away. I watched him leave, a little surprised.

'He's just going to leave his boat here?'

'Looks like it.'

Percy answered, frowning at the thought. He turned his head in the direction of the gate and he scowled. Something was definitely bothering him. Come to think of it, something was bothering me too. It was hard to define but it felt as though I was gearing up to meet somebody important.

Maybe it was just Underworld nervousness.

Or maybe I was petrified of meeting my father because if all went according to plan, he was the person we were going to see in the next few minutes. I had no idea how he was going to react. Would he ignore me; pretend I didn't exist? Or would he demand that I return to the Fields of Asphodel because technically, I was supposed to be dead?

Leo shook me out of my thoughts by striding over, his pack strapped tightly to his back.

'We're all locked and loaded for the Underworld Cap'n!'

He mock saluted Percy and I exchanged a wry smile with Annabeth who'd trailed after him, along with Frank. Percy however, didn't react to Leo's ridiculousness. He continued frowning heavily at the distant gate and then turned to us abruptly.

'No.'

'Excuse me?'

Leo asked, wondering like the rest of us, if he'd misheard.

'No.' Percy repeated firmly. Annabeth raised an eyebrow and looked at him cautiously.

'What d'you mean by "no," Seaweed Brain?'

Percy's jaw clenched though I got the feeling it wasn't because of what Annabeth called him. He glanced around and then spoke to us, lowering his voice.

'Don't you feel it? Something's… wrong.'

'Wrong?' Frank repeated in a tone which suggested that his ability to deal with things going wrong was fast diminishing.

'I have this feeling, that something's changed… and not for the better.'

Percy said and a look of understanding came over Annabeth's face. Really, the way they communicated with each other was scarily effective. Not to mention, non-verbal.

'So we're not going to the Underworld, then?' Leo asked, hopefully.

Percy snorted. 'Yes we are. Just not _that _way.' He pointed to the distant gate and Leo's face fell. I chided myself for sharing his sentiment- I needed this quest to happen. Nico's _life _hung in its balance!

'If we aren't going through there then how do we get in?' Frank asked and we all turned to look at the towering black walls on either side of us which pretty much said that, aside from the gate, modes of entry and exit were strongly discouraged.

'Climb them?'

Leo suggested and I winced at the thought.

'We can't.' Annabeth said.

'Why not?' Leo wanted to know.

'The Walls of Erebus were built specifically to keep the dead inside and everyone else out. I'm guessing that _climbing_ them wouldn't be too good for us.'

Annabeth answered and I made a mental note to avoid being on the receiving end of her sarcasm.

'So… if we can't go over. We go under?'

Frank asked Percy who looked like he was fairly deep in thought himself.

'Maybe there's a secret tunnel.' Leo said, earning another roll of Annabeth's eyes. He made a face at her, causing me to grin.

'No… there isn't a secret tunnel.' Percy said suddenly, sounding incredibly pleased with himself. 'But…' He continued and grinned widely at me, 'We can always make a few, can't we?'

* * *

><p>'Are you <em>sure <em>this is safe?'

Leo asked peering into the hole he'd just dropped his one and (between all of us) only torch into.

'Yes.' I assured him for the third time and crouched down next to him. It was easier, I realized suddenly. Being around him was easier.

'I still think we should find another way.'

Annabeth said from behind me. She hadn't been too happy from the start of Percy's plan and all the time I'd spent wandering around the foot of the walls looking for loose earth had been punctuated with her suggestions to try something else. Now, after Leo destroyed the only source of light we had, she was objecting completely.

'Do _you _have a better idea?' Percy asked, sounding fairly annoyed as he crouched down next to Leo to peer into the hole as well.

'Well, not yet but give-'

'We don't have time!' Percy snapped, cutting her off. I stared at him, surprised by the sudden flare of his temper. I turned around and saw that Annabeth was glaring at him.

'I'm pretty sure that if we wait another hour, _nothing's _going to happen to Nico.'

'And what about the other Pearl? What if Gaia gets hold of that? What then?'

Percy rounded on her and it suddenly struck me how nervous he really was. He'd manage to keep our spirits up by being cheerily optimistic till now but all this while, he'd been entertaining doubts of failure, just like the rest of us.

Annabeth didn't have a reply so she simply switched her gaze to me.

'You've done this before, right?'

I knew she wasn't trying to be accusing, she was merely pleading for reassurance so I gave her my best confident smile.

'Yes, I have. We really should be okay.'

I stood up and moved closer to the hole.

'Right. So I'll go down first-'

'No.' Annabeth interjected as she came to stand next to me, nudging Leo out of the way. 'I'll go down first.'

Percy and I protested at the same time but she waved off our objections.

'I'm the only one with a close range weapon. If there's anything waiting for us, I'm the only one who can really handle it.'

It was the sort of infallible logic only a daughter of Minerva could come up with. Percy however still looked worried, all annoyance of the previous argument forgotten.

Annabeth peered into the hole and then looked at me.

'How deep did you say it was, again?'

'A little less than 12 feet. I had to dig fairly deep to make a safe tunnel.'

I explained and took her pack as she slung it off. I saw her narrowing her eyes at the hole and knew what was bothering her. Have you ever tried dropping down into a hole without being able to see the floor?

I wouldn't recommend it.

Not knowing how far down the floor is, is a serious disability. There's no way to judge your fall accordingly, no way to know when to brace for impact. Annabeth could easily break something if she fell incorrectly.

This was one of the reasons why I wanted to go first. At least I had a sort of sense of the lay of the land. But Annabeth was right; if something did creep up on me I'd have no way to defend myself since my cavalry sword was too long to be of any use in such a confined space. I could collapse the tunnel of course but that would become counterproductive.

'Okay. Here goes nothing.'

Annabeth muttered and sat down at the edge so that her legs dangled into the hole. Her knife was in its sheath, strapped to her arm.

She used her hands and pushed herself off. By the way, the rate of acceleration of an object with a mass of 1 kilogram is 9.8 meters per second, so it was safe to say that her fall was a quick one.

'Are you okay?'

Percy asked anxiously as he crouched down next to me.

'Fine, I think I knocked my ankle a little though.'

Annabeth called up after a moment. Percy visibly relaxed.

'Can you see anything?'

Leo asked, a little apprehensively.

'Not yet. Maybe my eyes will get used to the darkness. I'll move over so you can throw down my pack.'

And that's eventually what we wound up doing. The packs got thrown down first and Annabeth hauled them out of the way so that we could jump down after them. Except for Leo's monster pack (which required Frank and Percy to go down first so that they could move it out of the way) the operation went smoothly.

I went last and had the easiest jump of all. The tunnel I'd found (and subsequently widened) was fairly broad so we could maneuver ourselves around even if two people couldn't stand shoulder to shoulder.

'If we're going single file, then Hazel should lead because she'll be able to anticipate an attack. Annabeth brings up the rear 'cause she has the knife.'

Frank reasoned in the darkness and we had to shuffle around so that we got into position. I was the only one who could 'see' our surroundings and the others stumbled around, hitting various limbs against the earthen walls.

'How are we going to get anywhere if we can't _see _anything?'

Leo demanded sounding incensed after he hit his head for the sixth time.

'Grab the pack in front of you and don't let go.'

Percy advised.

We spent a few minutes getting Leo to put _his _pack on (the repetitiveness of this exercise was beginning to cause more than a few grumbles) and I was enlisted to help because I was the only one who could see anything.

As I helped Leo, his hands knocked against mine a lot. I tried not to shiver when his fingertips brushed against my palms. They were calloused- just like how Sammy's had been.

Finally (and with a curious mix of relief and disappointment on my part) Leo got his pack strapped on and I took the lead. I felt a weight settle on my right shoulder- Percy's hand.

'Ready?'

I called out behind me and I got a few mumbled responses from Frank's neutral "yes" to Leo's sarcastic "No, I'm just waiting for Scarlett Johansson to join us!"

I couldn't help but grin and began walking, even though I had no idea who Scarlett Johansson was. Progress was agonizingly slow because after a few meters of level ground, the tunnel acquired a steep downward incline- which was both a relief and a headache.

The angle meant that we'd pass beneath the foundations of the Walls of Erebus ("Magical walls don't follow the same rules of construction which normal walls do" –Annabeth) but at the same time walking down was potentially life threatening because the others couldn't see.

Each step I took had to be carefully placed because Percy was following my movements exactly (and Frank was following _his _and so on and so forth) so one mistake on my part would send us tumbling down a long way.

For twenty long minutes we shuffled at the pace of an overfed cow. The air was hot and dry and each breath we took reduced the amount of oxygen in circulation. The others, very kindly didn't complain but I could hear them panting behind me.

Finally, we reached the point just beneath the foundations. I gave warning and paused to catch my breath and figure out my bearings.

'Everyone okay?'

Percy asked and the others gave monosyllabic replies. The lack of oxygen was getting to them.

'Okay, upwards now. But the slope will be gentler because I don't want to pop up right next to the walls; in case there are sentries or something.'

I said, trying to keep my tone cheerful.

'Something like a huge, three-headed dog, you mean.' Leo muttered mutinously and I tried not to take offense at his tone.

We started off again and like I'd promised, the slope was much gentler, making progress that much quicker. As we walked, I cast my mind around and forcibly pushed away any valuable materials as I'd done earlier. I didn't want my friends touching them accidentally and in the pitch darkness surrounding us, it was only too real a possibility.

'So what happens when we reach?'

Frank huffed from way behind.

'Get to Hades' palace.' Percy answered shortly.

'What if he doesn't help us?'

Leo asked, creating a moment of tense silence. Then,

'He will. Nico is _his _son after all.'

Percy said in a tone which suggested that we should remain optimistic. I struggled not to wonder on what would happen if my father was in an unforgiving mood and concentrated on moving quickly.

Ten minutes later we'd all but reached the surface.

'Stand back.'

I warned the others and closed my eyes to help with my focus. With a dull "FLOOP" the earth above the area in front of me collapsed creating a little pyramid of dirt and an opening from which air rushed in.

Dust flew in all directions and we coughed as we inhaled it. The bright side (literally) was that a weak light had entered as well and the others could finally see a little of their environment.

I looked at the grime on their faces and clothes and hoped they wouldn't notice _that _just yet.

'I'll go scout out and see where we are.'

Percy said and we exchanged places with little difficulty now that he could see as well. He climbed the mound of dirt and disappeared through the opening.

He was gone all of five seconds when he popped his head back in, grinning widely.

'Hazel, you're a genius. You've gotten us to the Fields of Asphodel! C'mon!'

He held out his hand and helped me up. I scrambled to my feet and took deep breaths of fresh air as I looked around. We were indeed at the Fields of Asphodel, the tell-tale wheat stalks were all around us and they seemed to have grown much taller.

I turned around and helped Percy with Frank and then all three of us had to tug Leo out because his pack weighed him down so much. Then, just as Annabeth emerged from the tunnel, a cold feeling ran down my spine and I turned around.

But I wasn't quick enough.

Stalks of wheat sprang to life, encircling my wrists and ankles and pulling me to the ground. The others reacted immediately but we'd walked straight into an ambush. Percy tried to reach for his sword but the wheat pulled his hand away and the pen fell out of his pocket and rolled along the ground.

Frank and Leo got ensnared before they could reach for their weapons and though Annabeth did manage to unsheathe her knife and slice up a few stalks of wheat, there were far too many for her to handle.

Her knife fell into the dirt as well and I struggled unsuccessfully against my bonds. The wheat was worse than steel handcuffs. Then Frank, who was facing me, looked up and I saw his eyes widen in recognition.

'Well, well, well. Look who the cat dragged in.'

Said a strangely familiar voice from behind me.

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><p><strong>AN: Guesses?**


	14. Chapter 14

**14) We Strike A Deal- In The **_**Underworld. **_**Yeah, Didn't See That Coming.**

**Annabeth**

It was the guy from Burger King.

Or as Frank called him- Monster-guy.

The guy who I'd _maybe _seen on Olympus.

He had wavy brown hair and features which wouldn't be out of place on a Greek God- like Apollo. He had dark stubble lining his face. His clothes spoke of practicality- a black leather jacket, faded jeans and sturdy boots which had mud caked all over it.

He looked, therefore, like any other fairly good-looking guy you'd meet on the street. Not nondescript but not someone who'd stand out either.

Except, for his eyes. He had bright blue eyes. Luke's eyes.

Monster-guy smirked at us as he walked around, his right hand gripping a celestial bronze sword with casual ease. He completed a circle around us and then crouched down, next to Percy, who was on my left.

'Perseus Jackson.'

Percy didn't reply but Monster-guy didn't seem to want one. He studied Percy intently and then picked up Riptide from the ground.

'Interesting. A son of Poseidon holding _Anaklusmos_ .'

Riptide vanished from his hold, presumably to reappear in Percy's pocket. Again, Monster-guy remained unfazed. His unruffled demeanor was beginning to irritate me, just a little.

'So. Why didn't you just come by the gate?'

He looked at all of us individually though I saw him frown slightly when his eyes reached mine. I gazed back defiantly; there was _no _way those eyes were going to get to me.

'No comment? Well I guess it doesn't matter… you evaded one trap only to fall into another—'

'Who are you?'

Frank interrupted and Monster-guy turned to narrow his eyes slightly at him.

'I mean…' Frank faltered under the icy stare but continued determinedly. '.. Why help us earlier if you were going to trap us anyway?'

Monster-guy considered the question as he circled us again slowly.

'Let's say it was self-interest that helped you back there. Now, however…'

He let the words hang ominously in the still air. I tried to reach for my knife but the wheat bonds held strong- they were beginning to hurt my wrists.

'You said there was a trap at the gate for us? Who set that up?'

Percy demanded and Monster-guy whirled around to face him.

'Not too smart Jackson. Who do you _think?_'

The answer was obvious enough but something didn't ring quite true about it. We were still in the Underworld, after all. Monster-guy took our silence as confusion and rolled his eyes.

'_Gaia, _ladies and gentlemen. Gods, heroes can be so slow sometimes.'

Percy shook his head, though it looked fairly unconvincing.

'What about Lord Hades? How can he just _allow_ _Gaia _into his kingdom?'

Monster-guy sighed and looked at Percy pityingly.

'I'm afraid your _Uncle _hasn't been in attendance for a while, Jackson.'

'What, do you mean?'

Percy asked angrily causing Monster-guy to smirk again. Suddenly it all made perfect sense- making me feel sick to the stomach.

'Where _have _you been Jackson? Lord Hades was called up to Olympus nearly six months ago. The Underworld fell soon after.'

A stunned silence followed his mocking words but Leo's eyes found mine. I knew we were both having the same thoughts- we'd known Olympus was in lockdown _months _ago and yet we'd never even thought of the Underworld.

'So… you're saying Gaia is _here? _Right now?'

Hazel asked, speaking for the first time. Monster-guy appraised her carefully before answering.

'Do you heroes know nothing? She can't exist here for a variety of reasons- something you should be grateful for by the way. But she does have people who work for her… very effective servants, I might add.'

He looked at all of us a tad smugly and it didn't take a genius to realize he was talking about himself.

'How can you possibly work for her?' Frank asked, disgustedly and pulled at his bonds. Monster-guy raised an eyebrow.

'Excuse me?'

'You're a demigod! Just like us! How could you work for something that stands against your parents? Something… so evil?'

Monster-guy stepped back as though he'd been slapped. He looked so confused that for a second I thought I could see Luke in his features. Then his face cleared and he bent down next to Frank.

'Evil? Just because she wants to destroy the god's, she's evil? I think not.'

It was even the same argument all over again. I looked sideways and Percy caught my eye. Now two of us were thinking about Luke.

'But she'll destroy everything! How can you _help _something like that?'

Monster-guy laughed. He actually threw his head back and laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. Then, after making a great show of wiping away his tears of mirth, he grinned sardonically at Frank.

'Everyone takes what she says so _literally. _She won't destroy "everything." No, destruction is purely limited to the god's and their allies. It's her revenge for Kronos, you see.'

Frank opened his mouth and then shut it, not knowing what to say. Monster-guy glanced over us quickly and then nodded to himself as though he'd come to a decision. I tensed, preparing for the worst.

'Well, it's been great chatting, but you all must leave now.'

I blinked. Had I heard correctly?

'Leave?'

Percy asked in confusion. Huh, apparently I _had _heard correctly.

'Yes. Get out of the Underworld. There's a price on your heads so I'd suggest you turn around and get out the way you came.'

Monster-guy pointed to the hole behind us and waved his hands in a "shoo-ing" motion. We all stared at him blankly.

'I thought you worked for Gaia?'

Frank pointed out, giving voice to our confusion. Monster-guy looked affronted at that.

'Whatever gave you _that_ idea?'

'Uh, well—'

'Just because I'm not _against _her, doesn't mean I work _for _her.'

Frank looked suitably aghast but I had a sudden flash of inspiration and an idea began to take shape in my head. Percy however, nearly derailed my plans.

'Well, we're not leaving. So if you could just let us go and get out of our way…'

Something very close to rage flashed across Monster guy's face. My spine tingled, sensing the danger and the wheat bonds tightened imperceptibly. Monster-guy cocked his head to one side and gazed at Percy—all trace of his previous good humor gone.

'Well spoken, Hero of Olympus. But tell me, Perseus Jackson, what if I were to cut you down now. Who will save your precious father, then?'

Percy glared back, equally hostile and I could feel the power emitting from both of them. Then, as though somebody had flipped a switch, Monster-guy relaxed and stood up, the dangerous glint leaving his eyes. I knew he was moments away from throwing us back into the hole so I spoke up, trying my best to distract him.

'How long have you been down here?'

His eyes touched mine briefly and he ran his hand through his hair- a gesture which I found vaguely similar to what Percy did when he was thinking about what to say.

'A while. Why?'

I locked eyes with Monster-guy's and ignored the painful stab in my stomach which was intent on reminding me about Luke.

'You know where Nico is, don't you?'

He regarded me cautiously while the others gasped with astonishment. I could see indecision flickering in his eyes. He knew I was up to something but he didn't know where I was leading with it. Finally, he took a deep breath.

'Nico di Angelo is too far away to be a recipient of a successful rescue mission. I suggest you give up the notion.'

It didn't surprise me that he knew about our plans about Nico. Clearly there was a lot going on beneath what had really started as a simple journey.

'So you _do _know where he is. You could take us to him.'

Frank said excitedly, and I winced at his choice of words. I hoped he hadn't put any ideas into our captor's head- I did not want to end up as Gaia's prisoner. Monster-guy, meanwhile was staring at Frank, puzzled.

'And… why, would I possibly do something like that?'

I resisted the urge to snap back; his help was of vital importance if this quest had any chance of succeeding.

'Because, you're one of us. That's what heroes do! They help each other out.'

Frank said, but sadly, as he didn't possess Piper's charm-speaking abilities because Monster-guy didn't look convinced in the slightest.

'I am helping you- by letting you go. Leading you to Nico however would incur Gaia's wrath and I have no wish to do that.'

Monster-guy said, dismissively.

'So, you're a coward.'

Percy said before I had a chance to speak and I ground my teeth in frustration. As much as I loved my boyfriend, he could be incredibly dense in situations which required tact and diplomacy.

Thankfully, Monster-guy grinned at Percy's statement and didn't look the least put out.

'A coward _runs away _from a fight, Jackson. I prefer to… _avoid _one.'

Percy opened his mouth to hotly debate that but Hazel cut him off.

'What if we paid you to take us to him?'

There was a moment of silence as Monster-guy looked interested for the first since, since the discussion began.

'Indeed? What are you offering?'

I tried to catch Hazel-s eye so that I could signal her to stall him but she didn't look in my direction. Instead, she fixed Monster-guy with her gold eyes and spoke without hesitation.

'Let me show you.'

The wheat around her parted obligingly to reveal her clenched fist. Then slowly, no doubt knowing how much our lives depended on that moment, she uncurled her fingers.

On her grimy palm sat five diamonds. They were huge- the size of golf balls and despite the streaks of dirt on them, they glittered in the hazy light of the Underworld.'

I caught my breath at the sight of them and looked at Leo just as he mouthed: _What the hell? _At me. I shrugged as discreetly as I could; I didn't have the slightest clue as to how Hazel had come by such a treasure either.

I looked at Percy and caught his and Frank's unsurprised (and slightly fearful) expressions which were indicative enough to the fact that there was a lot more to Hazel than I'd been told.

Meanwhile, Monster-guy was examining the diamonds closely. He reached for them, almost unwillingly, when his fingers stopped, inches away from them. He chuckled and drew back, his shoulders relaxing.

'Impressive but no thank you. I avoid touching cursed diamonds as a rule.'

I started but again I noticed that Percy hadn't reacted at all. Leo and Frank were both looking at Hazel, the former with fascination, the latter with sympathy.

Monster-guy cleared his throat, drawing our attention back to him and reminding me that I needed to do something drastic otherwise we were going to get chucked out of the Underworld.

'Anyway, I've got other things to do so—'

'Wait.'

I interrupted, infusing my voice with as much authority as I could. Everyone looked at me questioningly but I kept my gaze on the heartbreakingly familiar blue eyes.

'There _is _something else we could pay you with.'

Monster-guy didn't reply so I pressed my advantage.

'Something, _many _heroes would kill for.'

He raised a single eyebrow.

'Loosen my bonds and I'll show it to you.'

I was harboring hopes that he'd be careless and I wouldn't have to go through with my insane plan but he lifted his sword to my neck before waving his hand, causing the wheat chain on my right hand to loosen.

I stuck my hand into my pocket and pulled out the Pearl.

For a moment, my companions were too stunned to say anything but then they all began to protest loudly. Percy was by far the loudest and most vocal and when his voice reached a volume one would normally associate for cheering in a stadium; Monster-guy (who had been awestruck by the sight of the Pearl) whipped around and punched Percy hard enough to bruise him.

The sheer novelty of watching Percy get hit by someone who wasn't _me _enraged me and I dived for my knife but Monster-guy was far too quick. He snapped his fingers and the wheat tightened pulling me back to the ground.

'Enough! Do you _want _to be captured?'

His blue eyes swept across all of us, glittering in disdain as we realized our mistake. I glanced at Percy as he tapped his cheekbone gingerly. Monster-guy caught the movement and I saw the briefest look of concern cross his face before he turned back to me and picked up the Pearl which I'd dropped when I'd gone for my knife.

When he touched it; it went from deep-purple to a weird red, almost the color of blood. Monster-guy gazed at it with absolute wonder and then glanced quickly at me.

'Do you know what this is?'

I was too shocked to answer.

My plan had been to offer the Pearl as payment- leaving out the bit about transferred ownership of course and then reclaim it when he'd gotten us to Nico. It wasn't perhaps, the most honest thing to do but I hadn't felt too guilty when I'd thought it up— especially when Monster-guy showed himself to belittle more than a mercenary.

But now he'd asked _me _what it was, which meant _he knew _what it was, which meant that there was no way I could trick him.

I nodded dumbly in response.

He held the Pearl up to his eye and examined it carefully for a moment. Then he nodded excitedly, shoved his hand into his leather jacket and brought out another ball which was also blood-red in color.

The second Pearl.

We gasped, but Monster-guy didn't even notice as he took the second Pearl and pressed it into my palm. It glowed a little but didn't change color.

'Wait, this doesn't belong to you?'

Monster-guy asked in bafflement, but my attention was riveted on the second Pearl. I _had _to take possession of it. My hand edged forward but when my fingers hit my own Pearl (which Monster-guy had placed on the ground) it changed color again- back to purple.

It was only then I understood.

'That doesn't _belong _to you?' I asked incredulously and pointed to the second Pearl which Monster-guy was gripping tightly.

He shook his head. 'No. I was hoping it'd belong to you.'

'What? No! Where did you get that?'

I asked heatedly but he only shoved his Pearl back into his jacket and picked up mine. Instantly it changed to red. He rolled it around a little as his brow furrowed in thought. Then, he looked at me calculatingly.

'You want Nico? I can take you to where Gaia's holding him… if you transfer this to me.'

'No.' I said immediately. There was _no _way I was losing my Pearl. It was bad enough that the other one belonged to god-knows-whom, making me wonder how on earth I was going to track the owner down. After I took it off Monster-guy first, of course.

Monster-guy frowned and gave me a look which told m I was frustrating him.

'How does it matter when Gaia has one of the _real_ ones?'

Several moments of silence passed before Frank, who was the first to react, asked, 'Real ones?'

'You know, the original Pearls.'

Monster-guy said airily and then caught our equally horrified expressions. He stared at me and then realization dawned on him.

'You don't know that there are original Pearls?'

I shook my head mutely trying my best to make my brain think clearly. Percy must have noticed my plight because he took over the questions.

'You mean, these ones are fake?'

Monster-guy sighed.

'No, these are _copies._ You really didn't know?'

He shot at me and at last I found that my jaw was working again, even if my brain was still in denial.

'No, I didn't. _Why _are there copies?'

Monster-guy shrugged wearily.

'You know the stories, right? About how Zeus didn't approve of the bloodshed caused over the initial ones.. etc etc?'

I nodded.

'Well, that's the official story. He didn't really care about the bloodshed—why would he? No, he was really _paranoid_ about how the power could be used against him. _That's why _he hid them.'

'Anyway, after a thousand years or so, Athena persuaded him to let her make copies of the originals—copies which followed the same rules of transferred ownership… but they weren't half as powerful.'

I froze when I heard my mother's name. She'd _known _about the copies and hadn't bothered to inform me about them.

'Zeus eventually agreed and the Pearls were scattered over the earth. They didn't attract too many heroes though—because of their weakened state.'

Percy stirred, 'Why hasn't anybody used them till now?'

Monster-guy shrugged again and I felt my bonds loosen, mirroring his action.

'People wanted to save them for a rainy day. Because of their weakness, heroes acquired them as a fall-back option, not as a means to _actively _destroy something—or someone.'

Monster-guy stopped enquiringly as Leo waved his hand.

'You said Gaia has one of the originals. Where is it?'

Monster-guy gave another humorless smile.

'Why d'you think she captured Nico in the first place?'

Hazel made a small whimpering sound which summed up my feelings exactly. I felt like I'd just been told to climb Everest, without any gear or guide. An hour ago I was worrying about how I was going to manage but now that Gaia already _had _one of the Pearls with the other one nowhere close to showing itself… I was doomed.

Percy caught my eye and gave me a reassuring smile.

I felt my resolve harden. I _had _to get to the original Pearls. And, the first stop was Nico's prison. Obviously Gaia was trying to get him to transfer it to her. I looked up at Monster-guy and pointed as best as I could to my Pearl.

'You have a deal. Get us to Nico safely and I'll give it to you.'

He studied me for a moment.

'Do you swear on the Styx?'

'I will, if you will.'

I countered easily and saw Percy grin appreciatively at me. Monster-guy by contrast, frowned but raised his voice.

'I swear on the Styx to escort you to Nico's prison as safely as I can manage, in return for ownership of your Pearl.'

Thunder rolled in the distance as I cleared my throat.

'And I swear on the Styx to transfer my Pearl to you, once we reach Nico's prison- and not as prisoners.'

I thought I framed it well—considering I didn't trust Monster-guy too much. In his words, just because he didn't work for Gaia _now _didn't mean he couldn't in the future.

He examined me and I thought he looked amused before he turned away and clapped his hands. Our bonds fell off and we all groaned as blood rushed back to our fingers.

We staggered to our feet, especially Leo who would have fallen over backwards if it hadn't been for Frank. As Frank struggled to get Leo vertical again, I turned to Monster-guy and forced myself to be cheerful.

'I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena and this—'

'I know.' He cut me off brusquely. I raised my eyebrow at him and tried not to sound accusatory as I said, 'Fine. Who are you?' After all, it was his expertise we were going to be relying on.

He chewed his lip, his eyes bluer than ever and I could nearly see Luke again. He held my gaze for a moment and then looked away.

'I'm Liam. Son of Demeter…' He paused, then added sarcastically, '… and absolutely _delighted _to be at your service.'

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><p><strong>AN: I don't like asking for reviews because it makes me feel incredibly cheap.. but I do like getting at least five per chapter. Could you, perhaps? **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Reviewers are, as always, the one's I'm writing for. Truly, your feedback inspires me to update as often as I can. Also, if you're looking for another Mark of Athena to sink your teeth into, I suggest you take a look at a fic written by an author called Flamepaw. It's even complete so you don't have to wait for updates.**

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><p><strong>15) We Get Dressed To Party. <strong>

**Percy**

So, I didn't take to Liam at all.

Fine, maybe my dislike for him had a lot to do with my bruised ego (and face). I mean, I devise a clever plan of sneaking into the Underworld—avoiding a trap, which I had only a _suspicion of, _only to fall right into his hands.

But it wasn't only that. It was everything else about him. The way he talked, the way he knew _everything, _even the fact that he'd survived the world without any actual training. It all pissed me off.

And then of course he had Luke's eyes. It was beyond creepy when Liam sneered because it reminded me so easily of Luke; back when he used to be an enemy. They might have even been brothers—they were that similar except for the fact that Liam was a son of Demeter.

Which of course explained the wheat stalks. The Fields of Asphodel was definitely the ultimate party place for any child of Demeter.

Liam led us across the Fields quickly, often not bothering to stick to actual paths. He just plunged into a dense thicket of wheat and expected us to follow. At first the height of the wheat confused me but then I figured that if Hades really _was _gone, no-one was really looking after the Underworld.

The thought that Gaia was currently in charge was vastly unpleasant. Sure, I'd had a suspicion that everything wasn't quite all right (Charon's odd behavior had been my first clue) but I didn't think that the god's had actually _let _the Underworld get taken. It was ridiculous.

'We're here.'

Liam called softly as we emerged out of the forest of wheat into a small clearing.

In front of us, looking very uninviting was a ramshackle hut. It stood underneath an equally ancient tree and looked like it was going to collapse any minute. The walls were made from dirt and the roof consisted of three slanting tin sheets- all heavily rusted. Juno in her smelly, hippie form, would have fit quite comfortably into the scene.

'Is that your… house?'

Leo asked in a tone which suggested he was going to break into bouts of laughter any minute now.

'Yes. Is there a problem?'

Liam asked, glancing over his shoulder, an expression of complete indifference on his face.

Leo snorted, 'Uh no. Not at all. It's very… homely.'

Liam stared at him and even though was standing the furthest from them; I could tell he wasn't too pleased. I cleared my throat loudly in an attempt to distract Liam from going all ninja on Leo. If it came to blades, I was pretty sure I could take on Liam but considering our wheaty surroundings, I had a feeling that I'd be a _little _disadvantaged.

'So.. why are we here?' I asked.

'Supplies.' Liam responded curtly and approached the door, gesturing for us to follow. 'Come.'

We followed in him and all of us except for Hazel and Leo had to duck under the door frame.

The inside of the hut was a whole different story compared to the outside.

The door opened to a large room with two doors leading off it. There was a huge world map tacked to the wall directly opposite us on which several crosses—all of them red except for one which was black, could be seen clearly.

Directly below the map was a neatly made bed and on the pillow rested a small slingy bag—the kind which has ropes to open or close the mouth. In the middle of the room was a table which was completely bare. A chair stood next to it.

A book case on the left wall completed the furnishings. It had all of four books on it even though there was plenty of space for more. Though there was one window, several brass lamps hung in brackets on the walls casting a red glow around the room.

Liam crossed to the bed and picked up the slingy bag. He tossed it on to the table and then pulled out the single chair.

He looked at us.

'Ah. Right. No point in taking this out..' He muttered to nobody in particular and put it back in.

'Is that.. Barbie and Ken on your bag?' Leo asked cautiously. I looked at the bag in question and had to stop myself from grinning. Next to me, Frank snickered, hastily converting it into an unconvincing cough when Liam raised an eyebrow at him.

'Would you prefer Transformers, instead?' He asked Leo politely who looked thoroughly confused.

'What?'

Liam waved his hand and the picture of Ken disappeared to be replaced by a fairly cool picture of Optimus Prime.

'That's.. how did you _do _that?' Leo demanded but Liam simply gave him an amused smile. It suddenly struck me that there was a sense of humor buried deep inside the guy.

'So. What's the plan?' Annabeth asked from her position next to the bookshelf. Of course the moment she'd entered, she's gone straight for it. I sighed. My girlfriend- he nerd.

Liam pulled the slingy bag and opened the mouth by loosening the rope. He peered inside and just when I was on the verge of exchanging a confused glance with Frank, something shot out of the bag.

I flinched but it only turned out to be a scroll of paper. Liam caught it and unfurled it on to the table, shoving his bag to one side to make place.

'Is that a map?'

Hazel asked interestedly and I moved closer to the table to get a better look.

'Of the Underworld and the Outlands, yes.' Liam nodded and motioned Annabeth to bring over the brass lamp closest to her. I peered at the scroll once the lamp was set on the table and several names jumped out at me: Hades Palace, Elysium, Fields of Punishment…

But that only took up about one sixth of the page. The rest was covered with a variety of lines and symbols which I soon realized were written in Ancient Greek.

'What are the "Outlands?" I've never seen them before.'

I asked and shifted to one side so that Annabeth could take a look too. We were all around the table now, peering intently at the map. Liam sighed like he was a teacher and I was his exceptionally bad student. He traced his finger all over the unfamiliar territory on the map.

'See this?'

'Yeah.'

'That's the Outlands.'

'I—but where did they come from? I've been down here before and I've never seen them.' I persisted, refusing to let him intimidate me. He studied me for a moment, deciding do doubt if I was worth the trouble and then sighed again.

'The Outlands have always been here. Usually they're shrouded in darkness.' He paused but we continued staring at him so he continued with a grimace. 'When souls die… most of them haven't accepted death, yet. They lack the courage to face judgment…'

I suddenly remembered the E-Z line at the gates. People who didn't want to be judged often accepted the Fields of Asphodel.

'And so, some of them—the smarter ones, escape to the Outlands where they can hide forever if they're clever enough.'

He waited to see if we had any questions and then finished, 'As to why you haven't seen it before, I'm not surprised. Heroes are always _terribly _observant.'

'You say that like you aren't one.' I countered, aware that he was going to keep taking digs at me till I reacted. Clearly he didn't like me too much but I didn't care—he was a guide, nothing more.

Something flashed across his face, an emotion which I couldn't really define. It looked a little like guilt perhaps but then he composed himself so I couldn't really be sure.

'Why are they shrouded in darkness? And why aren't they now?'

Annabeth asked, her brow furrowing. I remembered the weird landscape I'd seen from Charon's boat. If that was part of the Outlands, I really didn't want to journey through them.

Liam gave us a sardonic grin, 'Because Hades doesn't like his _failures _to be seen. Most gods don't.' His tone became bitter towards the end and he stopped, clearly trying to calm himself.

'Anyway, now Gaia's servants don't care—in fact I think they're trying to recruit more souls to their cause from there.'

'Souls?' Hazel queried and Liam scowled, annoyed by the barrage of questions.

'Demigods, mortals, whoever they find useful.'

'Wait, _demigods? _That's not possible.' I said immediately. I had a sudden painful vision of Ethan, his face twisted in revenge, fighting for the wrong side yet again.

'Not all demigods die as Heroes, Jackson. Not all of them … are good.'

Liam said ominously and I resolved to keep a closer eye on him. He was clearly hinting at himself.

'So.. where'd you get the map from?' Leo asked, breaking the tense silence. Liam looked at him, momentarily surprised.

'Get it from? I drew it.'

We all stared in shock. I bet closer to the map and sure enough the lines on it was most definitely inked—and recently. Even the paper looked fairly new. I glanced at Liam, now thoroughly confused. Who was he anyway? What son of Demeter lived in the freaking Underworld, drawing _maps?_

'Anyway, if you don't have any more questions…' He trailed off and looked pointedly at Leo who stared back innocently, '… I was going to show you where you friend is being held.'

He pointed to a spot near one corner of the map. It looked like any other place—a big black dot with a corresponding Greek name.

'The Hive.' Annabeth translated and looked at Liam quizzically, 'The place is named "the Hive?"'

It was the closest Liam came to looking embarrassed. He pursed his lips and shrugged uncomfortably. 'There aren't any _formal _names for these places.. so I just made them up as I found them.'

I glanced down at the map again and noted with dismay the distance between where we were and where Nico was. The places were literally on opposite ends of the map.

'How far away is it?' I asked and Liam tapped the map thinking about my question.

'It's not that far actually—a two days march. But isn't safe for you lot, out there.'

I remembered him mentioning the price on our heads, earlier. 'Go on.' I said.

'If the alarm goes up, you can forget about rescuing Nico. In fact, you can forget about getting out of here alive, as well.' Liam said, his blue eyes sweeping across all of us and coming to rest on me. I gazed back coolly, determined not to let him intimidate me. So he could manipulate wheat, big deal. I could take him on, on even ground any day of the week.

'What about you? Won't you get into trouble for helping us?' Hazel asked. Liam shrugged. 'I can take care of myself.'

Even though I didn't like him, I believed him. He was definitely tough; after all he had survived his whole childhood without any help. But it wasn't only that. He wasn't responsible for anyone except for himself—unlike me.

I suddenly wished, I'd come alone for this stupid quest. Asking the others to come along had seemed like a good idea—strength in numbers, etc, etc… but now, it seemed like the worst possible mistake I could have made.

'So, how are you gonna get us through?'

Frank asked, rousing me from my thoughts. Liam swiped the map off the table and slipped it into his bag. Then he grinned at us, a tad maliciously.

'Disguises.'

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><p>Liam's idea of a disguise was a long coat made of some fluffy material with a hood attached. The buttons down the front were big and old fashioned… and completely useless because they didn't actually have any holes to click into. Instead there was a sash which tied up the front.<p>

In short, it was the worst bathrobe/dressing gown I'd ever seen. It also possessed a weird musty smell which left me in no doubt that it hadn't been washed in, oh, a couple of centuries or so.

After our stint with the map, he'd lead us through one of the doors which opened into a room not much bigger than my bedroom. It had exactly one cupboard and one trunk, both which looked like they'd been made in the 8th century… BC.

From the trunk he'd pulled out the fashion disasters we were currently wearing.

'Even my crazy Grandmother wouldn't have worn this.'

Frank muttered mutinously and Hazel and I grinned at each other, remembering the old lady. She had been quite a personality.

'Well, it's the only thing which makes you look like a Shade so unless you want to get captured, I suggest you stop complaining.' Liam said, looking slightly irritated.

'Shades?'

Annabeth asked interestedly. Out of all of us, she seemed to be the only person who could pull the disguise off properly. The rest of us looked like a bunch of homeless people from Mars.

'You know spirits which roam the Underworld. Don't you guys watch any movies?' Liam said distractedly and then turned to Leo. 'Pass me your pack.'

Leo backed up so fast that for a moment I'd thought I'd misheard and that Liam had actually asked him for a kidney. 'Why?' Leo demanded, his tone bordering on hostility.

Liam raised an eyebrow in confusion and then looked at me for an explanation. Even though I also thought that Leo had gone a little crazy, there was no way I was going to sell him out so I scowled at Liam. 'Why d'you want his pack?'

Liam rolled his eyes, 'Because it'll be the first thing to give you away. Shades don't normally wander around with backpacks, you see.' I felt my ears become a little warm. 'Oh.'

Liam shook his head in resignation and then gestured pointedly to me. I blew the air out of my cheeks and slung my pack off. 'We can't just leave our things here.' I said as I handed it to him.

'Who said anything about leaving it behind?' Liam asked as he pulled out his slingy from his pocket.

'But how-?'

I asked and then stopped as we all watched, fascinated. Liam began widening the mouth of his little bag … and kept widening it till it covered the bottom of my pack. Then with casual ease, he simply pushed my pack into the slingy. My pack vanished into the little bag as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

'How does that work?' I asked, when I eventually found my tongue.

In response, Liam threw the bag to Annabeth who caught it and stared at it, puzzled. 'No extra weight?'

Liam shrugged nonchalantly. 'Magic.'

The slingy got passed around till it was only Leo's turn left. Frank and I had to struggle with it and for the first time I really began to wonder about what he was carrying in it. It was obviously something he didn't want us to know about—and that worried me.

Meanwhile Liam had narrowed his eyes at Frank.

'This is your bow?' He asked, gesturing to where Frank had put his weapon down to help me with Leo's bundle of joy.

'Er.. yeah?' Frank said hesitantly.

Liam glanced at all of us as though he was evaluating us and then then nodded to himself. 'Put it into the bag as well.'

'Why?' Frank protested but I'd already made the connection.

'You can't hide your weapon underneath the coat like the others. And there's no way I'm letting you carry it around in full view.'

Liam said and held his hand out for the bow. Frank looked fairly miserable when he handed it over and I understood why he felt that way. I always carried Riptide around with me—I simply felt naked without it.

'If you want, I can give you something else.' Liam offered and the moved to the trunk after Frank looked up, a glimmer of interest in his eye. Liam dug through the trunk for several minutes and then emerged, bits of fluff sticking to his hair. In his hands he held a Roman short sword made of Imperial Gold—a _gladius._

'Uh, thanks… I guess.' Frank said hesitantly and then struggled to strap it to his waist without tearing the coat he was wearing.

'Could you put this in too?' Annabeth asked, holding up a fat book which I was pretty sure I'd seen earlier in the bookshelf. Liam looked a little wary but popped it into the slingy without saying anything.

'Okay. Time to move kids, we haven't got a lot of time to rescue your friend.'

Liam said sardonically as soon as Frank finished with his _gladius. _With the Barbie Prime bag slug around his leather jacket, Liam cut a ridiculous figure but I knew without a doubt that he could very easily become a dangerous enemy of ours—if he wasn't already.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I haven't abandoned ship guys, thanks for hanging in there! A word on this chapter; as you can see it's marked 'Leo- I' which basically means there will be a 'Leo- II' as well, which will be in the next chapter, along with Frank's perspective.**

**I've done this because a few interesting (and important) things are going happen to Leo and it'll be weird if I wait till he comes around again- only to talk about it in past tense.**

**As always, thanks to my reviewers!**

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><p><strong>16) I Nearly Die of Boredom<strong>

**Leo- I**

So the dressing gown-bathrobe thing was possibly the _worst _outfit to wear while in the Underworld. The only attire which beat it would be a bib which had the words: _Hello, I'm a demigod hoping to defeat Gaia. Fear me! _In bold stamped on it.

The sash which was supposed to keep the two sides together kept coming undone no matter how many times I tied and retied it. Liam even put me behind Frank so that if it opened, Frank's bulk would cover anything which could give me away, like my bright orange **CAMP HALF-BLOOD **t-shirt for instance.

To make matters worse, the hood (which we'd pulled over our faces so that no-one could see us) was so large that it drooped all over me, severely constricting my ability to not fall over my inside of the hood also _happened _to smell like the back-end of a cow after it had finished using the facilities.

And finally, there was the _length _of the stupid robe/gown. It was so long that I was pretty sure that I had a train dragging behind me. Consequently I tripped and fell over it all the time making me the clumsiest "shade" in existence.

The surroundings didn't help matters one bit. I mean, sure I didn't know much about the Underworld but I was smart enough to know that the Fields of Asphodel were named that way for a reason, what with the wheat and all but I was so _not _prepared for wheat to be growing around all over the Underworld.

Furthermore, I'd guessed that The Fields of Punishment housed the scariest monsters in existence but now they were wandering around everywhere, causing general mayhem.

In short, the Underworld -not the happiest place on the planet in the first place- was a demigod's worst nightmare under Gaia. I, therefore, considered it a miracle that we were able to walk through all of it without being noticed for who we really were.

The reason weren't caught was not, as one might think, due to my awesomeness but due to Liam. He led us in a single file (not wearing a disguise himself) and looked right at home amidst all the chaos.

Monsters sniffed hungrily at him and then moved hurriedly away after he sent one, very deadly, glare their way. Even the dead parted before him so that in some places which had people piling on top of each other, we got clear passage.

Shades floated by often enough but they didn't give us a second look. Mortal ghosts who looked like they ate puppies for breakfast, cracked vicious chains at timid onlookers but nodded deferentially to Liam as he walked by.

It was, all in all, most mysterious—not that I was complaining. I felt right at home with all the VIP treatment.

Liam took us straight through the Underworld, occasionally pointing out landmarks to us. I wasn't sure why he was acting like a tour guide but I was more than happy to take in the sights. The Underworld was definitely an interesting place.

Hades' palace looked like every Goth kid's dream come true. Even from a distance, the glowing torches and flaming skulls made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But even though its aura was freezing, it had an air of negligence about it and the area around it was eerily empty.

I tripped over my robe as I overtook Frank to catch up with Liam, holding my sash in place with a firm grip.

'So no-one lives in Hades' palace anymore?'

Liam turned his head and narrowed his eyes briefly at the distant structure.

'No. It's been abandoned for months.'

His answer wasn't satisfying in the least. Funnily enough, I'd figured it was empty on my own. I'd hoped that my question would serve as an opener to an explanation of _why _it had been abandoned but clearly Liam didn't feel like talking. It was too bad that I did.

'So why hasn't Gaia moved in? I bet she'd love the décor of the place.'

Frank chuckled behind me but Liam didn't even crack a smile.

'Valdez, you aren't very clear on your Greek concepts, are you?'

I made a mental note to ask him later about how he knew my last name when I hadn't told him.

'Nope. Bunch of moldy gods don't interest me.'

This time he did smile and I had a feeling that he appreciated my insulting the gods. I filed that away for future use as well.

'Clearly. Anyway, what do you know about the Ancient Laws?'

'The Ancient _what_?' I asked, my mind drifting to the drafting of the Bill of Rights for some reason. Hadn't that happened like a thousand years ago?

'Laws. They govern all immortal activity.'

'The immortals have _laws?_' I asked, impressed. Hey, if I was immortal I wouldn't have allowed a bunch of laws to stop me from doing what I pleased. Come to think of it, I don't allow mortal laws to stop me from doing what I pleased, either.

'Yes. Not that they particularly _enjoy _following them…' Liam trailed off and I glanced at him. His expression wasn't very nice.

'Anyway,' he shook himself and continued, 'because of the laws, immortals can't actively intrude in each other's domain, not without defeating the victims first.'

'Okay..?' I drawled, not too sure of where he was going with the explanation. Liam glanced back and sighed at me, 'So Gaia can't exactly march into Hades' palace without squashing him, first.'

'Ah.' I got what he was saying but there was still something bothering me. 'If that's the case then how is Gaia in the Underworld, considering she can't "intrude" until she defeats Hades?'

Liam raised his eyebrow as if to say: _Are you seriously asking me this_? But I didn't react (except for giving him my most charming smile) so he heaved another huge sigh.

'First of all, Gaia isn't "in the Underworld." If she was, you'd be dead.' He paused and then added with a hint of malice, 'Actually, if she was fully _awake _you'd be dead.'

I noticed immediately how he'd very conveniently left himself out of sharing our terrible fate if Gaia woke up.

'Secondly, when I told you she controls it, I didn't mean _her_ because she's still, for the most part, asleep. I meant "her" as in her various minions who do the dirty work and cause turmoil.'

'Minions?' I asked, feeling inordinately pleased by the fact that Liam looked like he wanted to tape my mouth shut. Annoying people was a specialty of mine and to watch it work with such a resounding success was quite flattering.

'Mortals. Demigod's. Down here, even ghosts. They can go anywhere, influence anything.'

'Like us.' I said very observantly. It made sense; how we'd walked into the Underworld, how we were now walking _through _the Underworld. Whoever was in charge wasn't omnipresent and we'd slipped through the gaps. I mentally thanked the Fates that Gaia wasn't awake yet.

'That's the way to Tartarus.'

Liam said suddenly, jerking me from my musings. I looked to where he had gestured and felt queasy immediately. To the far right, the ground seemed to tilt downwards, sloping away. I couldn't be sure though, the place was possibly the gloomiest part of the Underworld I'd seen.

'Shouldn't it be… fenced or something?'

I asked, looking away. The darkness around that part of the Underworld bothered me. It seemed… malevolent; as though it was waiting to grab anything that wandered astray and engulf it with its horribleness.

'It leads to a hole, Valdez. Only real idiots would fall down it.' Liam replied casting me a glance that said he considered me to be a real idiot.

I decided, quite suddenly, that I liked the guide. Maybe it was because he gave as good as he got or because he seemed like royalty in the Underworld… either way, he seemed like a good person to have around if one found themselves in a tight spot.

* * *

><p>It took me less than an hour after we began walking to realize I'd made a horrible mistake; I'd forgotten to get my iPod along on the quest. Do you know how boring it is to walk on and on without being able to talk or do anything else?<p>

The sheer monotony of the activity nearly drove me crazy and out of desperation I tried to start conversations with everyone… till Liam finally lost his temper and told me to shove it. Apparently, disguises notwithstanding, shades weren't exactly known for their scintillating conversation.

Mile after mile we covered and at some point the landscape changed around us. The wheat disappeared and short black grass to its place. The crowd of dead people and monsters thinned out considerably. The weird half-light (which was the only ambience in the Underworld) dimmed as well.

We'd crossed into the Outlands.

And still we walked. Unlike the Underworld, which was mostly flat, the Outlands had hillocks everywhere and Liam, for reasons known only to himself, took us over every single one of them.

As we walked, I grew exhausted. Even my weird gown-robe-thing seemed to cling to me, weighing me down like a box of heavy machinery. Don't get me wrong, the past few months at Camp Half-Blood had really licked me into shape but in the Outlands, the very air seemed oppressive—as though it was doing it's best to suffocate us.

I wasn't the only one. Behind me, I could hear Annabeth breathe strenuously and in front, Frank gasped with every step we took. Only Liam swung along without a problem, his stupid Transformers bag (which Percy had very aptly nicknamed "Barbie Prime") winking in the gloom.

'How… much farther?'

Frank said eventually and I took it as my cue to fall to the ground. We were about half-way up yet another hillock and Frank was bent over, resting his hands on his knees. The others came to a stop beside me and Hazel kneeled over, collapsing next to me.

Only Percy and Annabeth continued to stand (aside from Liam of course) though even their faces were lined in exhaustion. Percy in particular looked like he was ready to pass out and I remembered that unlike the rest of us, he hadn't got any sleep in the car.

Plus he'd pulled his crazy stunts and cracked his head when he'd fallen down the hill.

A part of me pitied him but a larger part of me couldn't help but feel that as a leader, Percy wasn't doing the best to take care of himself. I mean, if something attacked us, his chances of impaling himself with his own sword would have been greater than his chance of finishing it off.

Liam looked at all of us, pityingly.

'Well, I hoped to cover at least half the distance before we stopped but looking at you guys… that's not going to happen.'

'How much _have _we covered?' I asked, hoping he'd say something encouraging, like: _Don't worry, more than enough_, but instead he scuffed his boot against the ground and looked away. 'Just a little more than one-fourths, I'd say.'

'But we've been walking for _ages_' I protested weakly. My chest felt like it had an anvil strapped to it.

'Six hours.' Liam corrected, mildly.

I wanted to exclaim loudly but I didn't have the energy so I just waved my hands and hoped it conveyed my astonishment.

'Holy Poseidon. He's right. It's nearly eight.' Percy whistled, glancing at his watch.

'Why. Are. We. So. Tired?' Annabeth asked, drawing a breath after every word.

Liam's brow furrowed in thought. 'Honestly? I'm not really sure. Gaia's influence _is_ stronger here than the Underworld.. maybe it's opposing you. I think the closer you get to Nico's prison, the worse it's going to get.'

I closed my eyes and wished Festus was still around. He'd have flown us over in no time at all… or at least the three of us.

'How come you aren't tired?' Percy asked in what sounded like an unfriendly tone. I opened my eyes and sure enough, he was glaring at Liam with open hostility.

'Gaia doesn't want me dead, remember?' Liam responded, not looking offended in the least. He glanced down at all of us again, taking in our various presentations of exhaustion.

'Can you guys make it over the hill at least? It'll be safer there.'

* * *

><p>It took us another ten minutes to climb up the hill and then come down the other side. I was so tired that I stumbled around pathetically, leading Annabeth to grip me by the shoulder and steer me correctly.<p>

Without meaning to, I leaned on her and though she poked me in the ribs once she didn't say anything and hauled us both up the hill and then down again. I resolved not to irritate her for a while and as soon as we reached the campsite, I tumbled once more to the ground.

This time, everyone (except Liam who disappeared promptly to find firewood) joined me. Percy nearly did a face plant into a boulder and when he rolled over; I saw that his face was grey with fatigue.

The campsite Liam had chosen was fairly protected by granite walls of the hillocks behind and adjacent to us. The gloom was still present. I had a feeling that in the Outlands, midnight and noon looked the same.

In the distance, shapes moved and I heard a faint chittering noise. Liam had said that souls often escaped to the Outlands, fearing judgment and I sincerely hoped that they wouldn't come a-visiting. I had no wish to meet more evil dead things.

Thankfully they soon faded (visually and audibly) back into the gloom.

Liam returned silently, nearly startling me into reaching for my hammer. The guy moved like a ghost. Rolling his eyes at me, he bent down and began piling sticks around a circle of stones. He knew his "survival- in- the- wilderness- guide" backwards (Coach Hedge would have been so proud!) because soon enough he had a pretty steady blaze going.

Drawn by the flames I moved closer and felt a welcome warmth spread all over me. Because of our exertion, I hadn't noticed the drop in temperature till we stopped but now with the sweat cooling on my skin, I felt colder than ever.

'Anyone hungry?'

Liam asked, looking around.

'Are you kidding? Hand over the food!' I demanded quickly. Annabeth, who'd been resting her head on Percy's shoulder, seemingly asleep, opened her eyes to roll them at me. I grinned back, some things never changed. No matter what the circumstances were.

Liam, meanwhile, had been rummaging around in Barbie Prime with great energy. Suddenly he pulled out an object enclosed in his fist with a loud, 'Aha!'

'What _is _that?' Hazel asked with interest. I couldn't help but notice the way her hair shone in the firelight. Even her eyes seemed to glow.

'A burger.' Liam answered proudly, holding it out for all of us to see.

'Erm… how _long _has that been inside your bag?' I asked carefully, trying not to laugh at Percy who looked like he wanted to throw up.

Liam looked at me, offended. 'I don't know, but it's as fresh as the day I bought it.'

'Huh. How come?' Frank asked curiously from somewhere behind me.

'Yeah, did Barbie wave her magic wand over it and make it all better?' I added and Hazel giggled unexpectedly, making me feel better. At least _someone _appreciated my sense of humor.

'Keep insulting my Barbie, Vladez and I'll make you carry your own backpack.' Liam said in a tone which I couldn't decide was serious or not. Apparently the others could because Annabeth grinned and Frank chuckled behind me.

I scowled at Liam who smiled faintly and produced a skewer from his bag, handing it to me along with the burger. I looked at his offerings with suspicion.

'Have a go Valdez, I'm not trying to poison you.'

I figured that, at the moment he didn't have a reason to. If he really wanted to kill me or any of the others, he'd wasted a lot of good opportunities. Even now he could whip out his sword and still take on all five of us. A _Koala _bear could have beaten us up; we were _that _tired.

I skewered the burger and moved closer to the fire. The flames brightened as I neared, reacting to my proximity. I glanced around surreptitiously, hoping no-one had noticed, while I roasted my burger.

Liam was digging around in his bag again. I shifted a little and saw that Frank was sitting next to an outcrop of rock which didn't look too comfortable. He was drawing lines in the mud with a stick. Hazel was right next to him, watching the patterns he was drawing with an oddly vacant expression on her face.

To my right, Percy was now fully stretched out on the ground, staring at his hands which he was holding above his face. Annabeth was next to him, sitting up, with her back against the boulder. Her eyes were closed.

I felt slightly thankful. Of all of them, only Annabeth knew of my fire abilities. We'd decided long before flying _The Argo _to Camp Jupiter to not mention my particular gift to anyone unless absolutely necessary.

The explanation wasn't much, (and I hadn't even listened to it anyway) all I remembered was something about Nero playing a fiddle when Rome burned.

I took a meditative bite of my burger and stopped in surprise. It was delicious. The cheese had melted and the buns had become nicely roasted. Plus, it had a wonderful smoky after taste which food only acquires after it's been near an open flame.

'This is awesome!' I exclaimed loudly, spraying bread crumbs all over myself. Liam grinned, 'I told you so.' He seemed much friendlier—as though his personality had flipped over to "nice guy Liam" now instead of "annoyed, weary Liam."

'Guys, you have to try one of these.' I called over my shoulder and one-by-one they approached the fire for their dinner. It was actually a fairly pleasant with all of us sitting around a cheery blaze, holding burgers in our hands. It was easy to pretend that we were on a camping trip and not in the middle of a dangerous quest.

Finally, after scarfing down four very appetizing burgers, I initiated the topic of sleep. With the food resting comfortably in my stomach, I was beginning to feel my eyelids drop. Instead of pulling out my backpack, Liam found me a sleeping bag from Barbie Prime and I rolled it open right next to the fire.

I crawled in, ignoring Percy's amused snort as I whacked my head painfully on a stone and fell asleep almost as soon as my eyes closed.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I know, I know, it's about time I finally updated. **

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><p><strong>17) We have A Lively Conversation About Our Deaths.<strong>

**Frank**

As I munched through my second cheeseburger (which was _excellent_ by the way) I tried my best to figure out our official guide to our possible deaths.

Liam, that is.

He'd gone from helping us defeat monsters, to capturing us, to guiding us to Nico—all in one day. And now, he was providing us with a most satisfying dinner.

It didn't make any sense to me.

Was the guy on our side or on Gaia's? Or was he just a mercenary who worked for the highest bidder? While the third option seemed the most likely, it was also the one I wanted to reject.

He just didn't fit the bill for some reason.

Percy didn't trust him, of that I was sure. Annabeth _did_ but again only to an extent—and that was because of the hold she had over him, in the form of the Pearl. Hazel… I wasn't too sure what she thought of Liam, which was odd because she was my closest friend.

Leo, I could tell, didn't care. Or to be more precise, he was the most accepting of the guide… which I found a little odd as well. Then again, maybe it was just his way of dealing with a messed up situation.

Speaking of Leo, the guy had zonked out like a light… right next to the fire. I tried not to feel jealous of his nonchalance. I was so cold that I wanted to hug the fire but fear kept me in my place.

Even though my stub of wood was now with Hazel, I _still _didn't feel too safe around the flames. A momentary twinge of guilt spiked through me when I saw her shivering—she was sacrificing so much just to keep my stupid stick safe.

I debated whether to just take it back and ease her burden but I didn't want to say anything when everyone was so quiet. I didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to my lifeline.

After a few more minutes of shivering, I gave in and shifted a few more inches towards the fire so I wound up right next to Hazel. She gave me a smile when I brushed her shoulder but her gaze was distant—was she thinking about that other person she loved?

I cursed inwardly and decided to look for something to distract me. Thankfully, I didn't have to look very far.

'So.. Liam. Where are you from?'

He jumped as though I'd just asked him for his ATM card password. I raised my eyebrows, and he look down, examining his burger as though it was the most interesting in the world.

I knew he was hoping to deflect but next to me, Hazel stiffened and across the fire, Percy raised his head from the ground. Annabeth lifted her chin and opened a single eye.

Liam gauged the sudden interest and a brief displeasure clouded his face. After a moment he cleared his throat and smiled, though it looked rather forced.

'What do you mean?'

I shrugged, determined not to let him get away that easily. 'I mean where are you _from? _For example, I'm from Vancouver, Percy's from New York, Hazel's from…'

Hazel drew an inaudible breath.

'…New Orleans and Annabeth…'

I faltered but Annabeth spoke up, saving me the embarrassment. '…is from San Francisco and Leo's from Houston. Where are _you _from?'

Liam chewed his burger methodically but we all kept our eyes on him. Eventually he swallowed and sighed, 'Why the sudden interest in my home?'

'Well, you are leading us to our possible deaths. I figured bonding would be good for us.'

I said, hardly believing the words that were coming out of my mouth. I had no idea where the sudden surge in self confidence was coming from but I could almost hear a voice inside my head whispering, _"Ask him! Ask him!"_

Liam regarded me with a hardened gaze. 'LA. I'm from LA.' He said eventually, his blue eyes looking like tiny pick axes which were waiting to hack into me, one at a time.

I suddenly didn't feel so confident anymore.

'And your father?' Hazel asked and I mentally thanked her for sticking with the questions.

'My father…' Liam started bitterly; his marble gazing moving off me to stare into a distance, '… hates me. He threw me out a long time ago.' He bit the end of his sentence off and continued in a more composed tone, 'It's not a big deal. He was terrible father anyway.'

He finished and began patting the pockets in his jacket, looking for something.

'I'm sorry.' Hazel said finally, in the awkward silence that followed and I wondered if I should chime in with apologies as well but Liam had already shrugged wearily and turned away. He produced a white square packet and drew out a long, slim roll of paper—a cigarette.

'Whatever for? It's not like I can't survive without him.'

I considered the guide's words as he lit his little roll of death with a lighter he fished out from another pocket of his jacket. He definitely wasn't joking; he'd handled everything so easily –from destroying monsters to drawing maps of the Underworld– he was possibly the most self-sufficient person I'd ever come across.

'So you spend your time in the Underworld now?'

I looked across to see Annabeth in the process of sitting up straight, both eyes wide open. Liam raised an eyebrow defiantly,

'Yeah, so?'

He punctuated his words with s stream of white smoke. An expression of brief distaste crossed Annabeth's features before she answered. 'Nothing… —' she trailed off, clearly choosing her words carefully but Percy finished the question in his typically abrupt style.

'...—But it isn't exactly the Bahamas is it?

Liam's nostrils flared at the obvious sarcasm in the tone and he blew more smoke out of his mouth. A second of tense silence passed before the guide finally relaxed.

'No. But it's probably the safest place there is.'

'_What_? Right next to Gaia?' Percy sat up in outrage and his hair stuck up in all directions. I had a brief thought of how Terminus would have a heart attack if he'd been there to witness such rule flouting; particularly the smoking.

'The safest place is often right next to the enemy.' Liam answered, with a faint smile. His words struck a chord inside me—they sounded familiar.

'So you've accept she's your enemy too?' I put in while I racked my brain to figure out where I'd seen or heard the words before.

Liam glanced at me thoughtfully and with the smoke curling out of his mouth, coupled with the dancing shadows cast by the fire, he looked a thousand years old.

'Good move, Zhang.' He nodded approvingly and I saw Percy roll his eyes. 'Is she my enemy? That depends…—'

'On what?' Percy interjected incredulously.

I waited impatiently as Liam took a long, slow pull on his cigarette and raised his eyebrows pointedly at Percy. Percy huffed and shifted back, leaning against the rock next to Annabeth.

'It depends on whether she's a threat to me. Let's look at the facts, shall we? Gaia wants revenge for Kronos – which means she'll destroy anyone who worked against him—'

'And you didn't?' This time it was Annabeth interrupted him. Liam steepled his fingers together. 'No, I didn't.'

'Why not?' Percy snorted with an expression which said "why does that not surprise me?"

Liam gave a weary sigh and tipped ash to the ground with a practiced flick of his finger. 'Because he wasn't my enemy.'

Percy opened his mouth to argue hotly but Liam held up a single finger and said, 'Wait.'

His voice carried so much authority that I felt like saluting him and going "Sir, yes, sir!"

'I didn't fight Kronos because he wasn't my enemy— and by that I mean he wasn't a threat to me. He wanted to remove the Olympians and that was _perfectly _fine by me.'

'Fine by you?' Annabeth repeated and for the first time I heard a hint of underlying anger beneath her calm tone. Liam blew more smoke and took his time answering the question.

'Yes, fine by me. I have no love for my mother—or any of the others for that matter. I was _quite okay _with them being dethroned.'

'What did your mother do to you?' Percy asked.

Something dangerously close to hatred crossed over Liam's face and he flicked his nearly finished cigarette into the fire with so much force that it sent up a shower of sparks that nearly set Leo on fire.

Nobody said anything and I exchanged a nervous glance with Hazel. I looked down and realized that my hand had moved, quite unconsciously to my waist—where my _pugio _was usually strapped.

Then, abruptly, Liam smiled and he looked like he usually did: calm, composed and very, very, weary.

'Let's just say that my mother and I don't see eye-to-eye. What Kronos offered wasn't necessarily bad—not when you take your loyalty to the Olympians out of the equation.'

'So you fought _for _him?' Percy asked, and this time I noticed that he kept his face inscrutable.

Surprisingly, Liam chuckled. 'No. I told you before didn't I? I avoid fights.'

Percy didn't look remotely amused.

'Anyway, in answer to the first argument: No. Gaia is not a threat to me. Nor is she to you, Frank or to you, Hazel.'

Hazel beat me to showcasing our astonishment. 'Excuse me?'

Liam shrugged, tossing a few sticks into the fire from the bundle next to him. 'You didn't fight Saturn did you? If you don't oppose her efforts now, you'll be spared her wrath.'

Even though my mind was reeling from what he'd just said, I still noticed how easily he'd switched to the Roman name. Clearly he knew all about Romans –which was odd because the Greek demigods had supposedly only found out about us less than a year ago.

'Which brings me to your question of whether Gaia is my enemy or not. We've established that she isn't a threat to me, but…' He trailed off, to poke the fire again and sent another shower of sparks cascading over Leo. Without meaning to, I leaned back a little.

'… she is a threat to you. And since your safety is currently _my _priority –'

' –because of the Pearl–' Annabeth interjected.

' –then yes. She is my enemy. For now.' Liam finished calmly.

I stared at him, wondering if I'd heard correctly. He'd just told us that as soon as the Pearl was in his possession, he could (and probably would) turn on us. The worst part was that we couldn't do a thing about it. We might be doomed to die _with_ him but we were definitely doomed _without_ him.

He was the only one who could get us to Nico's prison—and Annabeth had sworn on the _Styx _to hand over the Pearl once he got us there safely.

In short, if we found Nico, we'd most probably die. The only way to avoid death completely was to call off the quest but even if we sacrificed Nico, it still left Gaia with one of the real Pearls.

It was such a beautifully crafted web that I felt a grudging respect for the guide. Even the "Art of War" by Sun Tzu which dealt with strategy—

_The safest place is often right next to the enemy…_

I suddenly blinked. _That's _why Liam's words sounded so familiar; I'd read them in the book Mars had give me.

'You've manipulated us.' Annabeth said finally, which basically put my thoughts –all our thoughts, judging by Percy's and Hazel's expressions– into words.

'Well _manipulate _is a strong word.. but yes, I suppose it'll do. You see, that Pearl you own is exceedingly important to me. I had to, ah, _manipulate _you guys.'

Liam smiled faintly at us and drew another cigarette from his pack. I felt like grabbing the roll of paper, lighting it on fire and putting it out on the guide's hand: I was that angry.

'What's so important about the Pearl, Annabeth owns?' Percy asked, his tone making me wonder if he was planning to go for Riptide.

'That, is none of your business, I'm afraid. Anyway, we've talked enough. You should sleep; we have a long way to go tomorrow.'

Liam stood up, lighting his cigarette in the process and after a brief stretch, set off towards the gloom.

'Where are you going?'

Hazel called after him but the guide disappeared from sight without answering. We all exchanged worried glances.

'D'you think he'll come back?' Hazel asked.

'Maybe he's off to sell us out.' I suggested and then immediately regretted my words. Hazel had gone completely white with fear.

'He'll come back and no, he's not going to sell us out.' Annabeth said reassuringly, as she pulled Barbie Prime towards her and peered into it.

'How'd you figure that out?' Percy asked, attempting to look into the bag too. Without looking up, Annabeth swatted him away and pulled out a couple of rolled up objects, ignoring his injured expression.

'He needs the Pearl, for whatever reasons. One way or another, we'll get to Nico safely.' She said and threw the rolled up objects –sleeping bags, I realized– to us one by one.

I caught mine and looked at it glumly. 'So after that… we're toast.'

'After that…' Annabeth nudged Percy with her foot, encouraging him to shift to one side so she could spread her sleeping bag, '…well, we'll just need an escape plan, won't we?'

And with that optimistic statement, she slid into her roll and shut her eyes, signaling an end to the conversation.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I've uploaded this one as well as an apology for taking so long to get my act together.**

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><p><strong>18) I Spend Some Quality Time With Daddy Dearest<strong>

**Leo-II**

You know, one would think, that as a parent, my father should have known better than to interrupt my beauty sleep after such a tiring day. And yes, I say my _father _because this time Hephaestus interrupted my dreamless sleep. The darkness faded into surroundings which I knew fairly well: a forge with a cheery fire and a room with every plain surface covered with an assortment of tools and junk.

Oh, and of course, in front of me, my dear old father, looking like he'd rolled through a forest of nettles as usual. Unlike the last time, my dream was in HD and I could see the myriad of bruises on his face.

He was peering shortsightedly at something on his lap, something which I realized was a toy volcano; you know, those ones which kids make in the second grade, which works with baking soda.

'Great, it's you.' I said huffily and Hephaestus looked up from his lap. An expression of complete surprise flew across his face (no doubt he was unable to deal with my sheer aura of awesomeness) and he blinked rapidly as though he'd just got smacked in the face with a shovel.

'Well? What d'you want now?' I demanded grumpily after a whole minute passed with him staring at me. It was only when his volcano began to smoke heavily that he cursed and looked around hurriedly for something to stop the reaction. It was of no use; the volcano was in full swing, frothing and foaming as the entire thing erupted, the miniature explosion aided by the baking soda.

As Hephaestus hadn't been able to move it away, the volcano blew up in his face, splattering white foam all over him. I raised my eyebrow as he swore and struggled to wipe off all the mess.

'Now look what you've done!' He said in my direction as he attempted to get the gunk out of his beard. His tone sparked my buried feelings of resentment for him and in a single motion I swept the volcano out of his lap and dumped it on to the floor.

'_You're _the one who got me here!' I said when he looked askance at my handling of his science project. He wiped the last off the foam from his bushy eyebrows and looked at me indignantly. 'I most certainly did not!'

'Well, I'm sorry, but I didn't exactly waltz in here myself.' I pointed out, feeling incredibly close to losing my temper.

My father looked at me in acute amazement. 'You didn't?'

'No! Jeez man.' I nearly did a face palm but stopped myself in time. As much as this bumbling idiot seemed otherwise, he was still a god; and my dad to boot.

'Oh.' Hephaestus looked momentarily lost but then sudden realization dawned on his face. He pushed himself back and rolled across the room to the nearest table and began pushing through the junk on it. It was only then I noticed that his chair had wheels.

'Umm, hello?' I called out but my father ignored me and continued with his haphazard searching. Giving up, I looked around the forge and noticed a few changes immediately.

It was still fairly messy –random things kept constructing and deconstructing themselves– but there was a sort of ordered chaos about it; as though somebody had come by and cleaned the place.

'Aha!' Hephaestus cried, startling me from my musings. He spun around to face me, holding a sheet of crumpled paper in one hand.

'Well?' I prompted as he smoothed out the paper and rolled back to me slowly. He peered at it and nodded several times, muttering very quickly to himself. Finally, he looked up from the paper and fixed me with a stare.

'You, uh, met my other half I see?'

My brain immediately thought of Aphrodite (what? She _was_ his wife, wasn't she?) but then I remembered my earlier dream meeting. I shrugged and examined Hephaestus closely, trying to see if his Roman aspect was hiding beneath the surface. However, it was the usual riot of welts and bruises on his face so I looked away hurriedly and answered.

'Yeah. I met Vulcan. He doesn't like me much.'

Hephaestus did his little rumbly laugh and pointed a thick finger at the paper he was holding. 'He definitely doesn't. It says so right here.'

I stared at the paper and then at him. 'You leave yourself notes?'

My father jumped as though he'd been stung and his beard burst into flames, nearly setting ablaze the paper he was holding. He yelped and patted out the fire, alternately cursing in Ancient Greek and what seemed to be the "P language."

He caught my bemused expression and scowled. 'What?'

'Nothing.' I shot back and felt a little better when he huffed, clearly annoyed. I wondered if he was going to underline the entry in the paper so when I met Vulcan next, he'd be doubly annoyed.

'So.' Hephaestus cleared his throat and looked at me expectantly. I gave him my best blank look and waited. There was no way I was going to initiate conversation, especially when I didn't even know what I was doing here.

He glanced at the list and looked at me a little uncomfortably. 'Ehm. You, er… got the message then?'

'What message?' I asked in my best innocent voice and grinned when my father double checked the paper. Instantly, he scowled again and said warningly. 'Don't play games with me boy.'

I ignored the voice in my head which was saying the exact same thing and leaned forward, unable to control the flare of resentment.

'Oh sure. I'll get right on that. How about a deal: I'll stop playing games if you do too. How's that for a deal, hmm _Dad?'_

Hephaestus flinched at the venom in my tone (or probably because of an uncontrollable tic) and a corner of his beard began to smoke again. His beady eyes narrowed at me as though I was a particularly annoying piece of machinery. He glanced at the paper again and then back at me but I didn't offer him a reprieve. Finally, he sighed and patted the smoke out of his beard.

'You clearly have some questions you want answered.'

'You think?' I said, sarcasm practically dripping off my words and collecting on the floor, next to the ruined volcano. Hephaestus muttered to himself again and sat up straight, accidentally squashing said volcano.

'Well, go on then.' He was staring intently at the paper in his hand. I wanted to throw something at him just to relieve my frustration.

'Fine!' I began, 'first. What am I doing here?'

My father shifted uncomfortably and took a moment to read the words off the paper in his hand. 'I called you here because you needed instructions,' he read out mechanically.

'But you didn't!' I countered quickly.

Hephaestus looked up. 'Excuse me?'

'You didn't call me; you were as surprised to see me as I was to find myself here.' I said triumphantly, not missing the sudden flush creeping the god's neck. He scowled at me and cleared his throat.

'I forgot about you for a moment. Next question.' He waved his hand and looked back at the paper. I wanted to protest but I could see that he wasn't going to answer me truthfully so I moved on to the next important topic.

'Why must I pretend to help Gaia?'

Hephaestus nodded, clearly expecting the question and jabbed at the paper. 'If you don't help, your quest will fail and Gaia will be that much harder to defeat.'

'That's not an answer!' I said loudly but my father gave me a "I-don't-care" shrug so I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down and moved on.

'Okay, why _me? _Why can't someone else do this whole double-agent thing?'

This time Hephaestus looked up from the paper with an expression I'd only seen once before on his face; the time when he'd warned me about Festus. It was… pity.

'You already know the answer to that one, boy. Think about it.'

I glared at him, unable to believe my ears. First he encourages me to ask questions and then tells me I know the answers. What the hell?

My father simply looked away sorrowfully for a few seconds and then went back to his paper. 'Next question.'

I had to bite down on my lip to stop myself from swearing at him.

'What do I have to do? I mean this "pretend-to-work-for-Gaia-thing." How does it work exactly?'

Hephaestus scratched his beard absentmindedly as he searched for the answer on the sheet. Then, quite suddenly, he froze and looked up.

'You're agreeing to do it?' He asked in a tone so surprised that I found it difficult to believe he was faking. I scowled at him and said bitterly. 'Well, it's not like I have a choice, do I? You'll send those damn automatons after us again.'

My father looked down, mild chastised. 'Ah. Sorry about that; see when he gets impatient—'

'He?' I interrupted, even though I'd kinda figured it out already. Hey, maybe I have no people skills whatsoever but I'm not stupid.

'You know…' Hephaestus waved his hand around vaguely and I rolled my eyes. Seriously, he was behaving like Vulcan was an evil cousin of his instead his other personality.

'So what am I supposed to do?' I asked, reminding him to check his damn list again. He pursed his lips and shrugged, 'it says here that you must deliver them to Gaia.'

'_What?_'

I shot out of my chair, hoping to grab the list but Hephaestus threw it over his shoulder and pushed me back. Getting pushed by him was like getting hit by a two tone truck and I staggered backwards, unable to breathe and fell, quite ungracefully, into my chair and then on to the ground.

'Oops.' I heard my father rumble as I lay on the floor, breathing heavily. A moment later, he lifted the chair off me and let me get to my feet, wincingly.

'Sorry about that. I forget to control myself sometimes…' Hephaestus mumbled into his beard and then shot me a hooded look, 'you get that from me, I suppose.'

I ignored him, and checked my body for damage: was it possible to get hurt in a dream? Satisfied that I hadn't broken any bones, I rounded on him.

'How am I supposed to _deliver _them to Gaia?'

Without his list, my father looked stumped by the question and that only made me angrier.

'I'm not even leading the damn group!'

I hit out and my hand caught an object on a nearby table. The object –a crystal pen stand– flew into the air and shattered into a million pieces when the floor found it. I froze and turned around, sure that my father was going to vaporize me but instead he was watching me pityingly from his chair.

'Well?' I demanded, my anger seeping back in now that my father wasn't going to blast me to pieces. Hephaestus heaved a great sigh and when he let the air out, most of it came out as smoke: as though his insides were, literally, on fire.

'You aren't leading them now…' He conceded, patting the leg which was in a brace as though he was reassuring himself it was still there, '… but you'll get the chance soon enough.'

'How?' I asked, but he'd already turned away and was picking up the all important paper from the ground. He crumpled it into a ball and tossed it to a table where it promptly disappeared into the junk.

Finally, realizing that I was still staring at him, he turned around to face me, his eyes darting around as usual.

'You should go.'

'Well, it's not like I invited myself up here, thanks.' I retorted, my anger dissolving into familiar feelings of resentment.

Hephaestus nudged the broken volcano to the side and looked me in the eye. 'I'm sorry, Leo.' He said, his voice rumbling like an idling engine.

I stared at him in shock. My father had never called me by my name, much less apologized and now, both had happened together.

'For what?' I asked quickly, but he'd already snapped his fingers so that the dream dissolved into darkness. The last image I had of him was his sad, distant expression as he watched me go.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: For those guys who're clamoring for action, this is just a starter. :D**

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><p><strong>19) I Dig Another Hole<strong>

**Hazel**

My sleep had just been interrupted by a fairly interesting dream (was that a bronze cannon?) when a hand shook me awake. I was upright in half a second even though my eyes took a little time to open completely. When they did, Leo's concerned face swam into focus.

'Hey. You awake?'

'I, uh…' My tongue tripped over itself and I gave myself a mental shake. Luckily, Leo wasn't waiting for a coherent response.

'Yeah, that's good. C'mon, we have to leave.'

And with that, he moved away before I had time to formulate a proper, "why?'. I blinked rapidly and looked around. A little distance from me, Frank was looking equally dazed as me. Across the fire, Leo was bending over Percy. Only Annabeth was wide awake and adjusting the strap of her knife.

'What's happening?' Frank mumbled as he rolled out of his sleeping bag and got up to stretch. I copied his movements and shivered when the chill hit me. I was definitely not dressed for Outland weather.

'Guys, c'mon! Up and awake!' Leo called motivationally causing Percy to wake up and mutter "five more minutes, mom" in my direction. I grinned at him and he blushed when he noticed who he was talking to.

'What… what's going on?' Percy said, blinking rapidly and looking around.

'That's what I want to know.' Frank mumbled sleepily as he watched Leo kick mud over the fire to put it out.

'We have to move.' Leo answered and he motioned me to gather up my sleeping bag. I obeyed immediately and bent down to roll it up.

'Where's Liam?' Percy asked, sounding much more awake. With a start, I realized our "friendly-till-he- got-the- Pearl" guide wasn't around. I couldn't help wondering he'd he even come back from the walk he'd set off for last night.

'He said he needed to check something. He'll be back in a moment.' Leo informed us as he struggled to shove his sleeping bag into Barbie Prime.

'He told you that? When?' Percy demanded, getting to his feet, his hand already reaching for Riptide. Leo rolled his eyes and threw Barbie Prime at me, gesturing to stuff in my roll as well.

'When he woke me up. He told me to wake you guys up and get ready to move.' Leo answered, holding up his hands in defense when Percy scowled at him. I finished packing in my bed and passed Barbie Prime to Annabeth.

'We have to move? Already? Why?' Frank asked and then jumped when a voice answered from the surrounding darkness.

'Because Gaia's forces know you're inside and they've already begun tracking your trail.'

Liam said crisply, striding forward and ignoring Percy's pointed frown. I knew what Percy was thinking: had Gaia's forces found our trail _because_ of Liam?

'So when you say they're tracking us…' Frank began but Liam cut him off impatiently. 'It means if you guys don't start moving, you're going to find yourselves dead. Now d'you want to stand around debating that or do you want to move, Zhang?'

Everybody looked much more awake after that and Annabeth tossed Barbie Prime to Frank after shoving in both her sleeping bag and Percy's. Meanwhile, Liam bent down and put his palm flat on the ground, closing his eyes in concentration. Intrigued, I mentally searched the dirt under my feet as well but only found a couple of silver lodes which promptly reacted to my presence.

I managed to wrestle them back into their place just as Frank stood up.

'Okay, I'm done. We're ready.'

Frank told Liam nervously. The guide nodded with his eyes closed and then stood up after a moment, a troubled expression on his face. 'Come. We have lots of ground to cover… and very little time.'

And with that, we began our march again.

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><p>Dreamless sleep notwithstanding, I was still exhausted. It turned out that Liam had only let us sleep five hours which meant it was around 2.00 in the morning and we were on the move again.<p>

The "energy-sapping" thing came back with full force after we covered the first mile of our resumed march. Clearly, Gaia did _not _want us getting anywhere near Nico's prison.

To keep my mind off the overwhelming aches in my legs, I tried to think about other things. Despite the fact that I didn't want to dwell on them, Liam's words about Gaia not wanting to kill Frank and me floated to the front of my brain. Though I really, really wanted to believe that the guide had been lying, I knew he'd spoken the truth.

For the quest to free Thanatos, Gaia had given me ample opportunity to back out. She'd reminded me lots of times that I didn't have to fight her. She'd even offered me a future of sorts with Sammy. And it was only after I'd charged Alcyoneus that he'd tried to kill me.

In a weird, twisted, way, what Liam had said made sense:

_Remove your parents from the equation and suddenly, Gaia doesn't look so bad._

Besides, what had my father done for me? Given me a curse which constantly endangered the people around me? Ignored me so that he wouldn't have to haul me back to the Underworld for being an escaped soul? Oh wait, he wasn't even _in _the Underworld. He'd left and let his son fight for him—his son who was now captured and being tortured alive.

Yes, I knew I had good things in my life. I had friends who cared about me. I had a home in Camp Jupiter… but all of it paled in comparison to what Gaia offered: Peace. Love. Life.

The bitterness burned inside me, along with guilt for having such impure thoughts and I plodded on after Liam, the energy not the only thing being sapped away.

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><p>'Just a question but what happens when Gaia's butlers catch us?'<p>

Leo gasped somewhere during the third hour of our trek. Liam paused to consider the question and we all gratefully came to a stop as well. The guide had pushed us relentlessly, using the threat of Gaia's forces to constantly remind us that slowing down was not an option.

'As far as I know, they have orders to capture… not kill.' Liam answered after a moment, his blue eyes sweeping over us as though he was contemplating the thought of following the orders himself.

'But earlier you said we'd find ourselves dead.' Frank said frowning. As much as I wanted to chime in and ask about the discrepancy, I was too tired to care. My legs were ready to fall off and a much as I wanted to sit down, I didn't dare try. If I did relinquish my weight to the ground, there would be no way I'd ever get up again.

'Yeah… well, I had to get you moving, didn't I?' Liam grinned.

Frank pouted sullenly and I had to repress the urge to laugh.

'Anyway…' Leo started, 'if they have to capture us then why don't we _let _them?'

He held up a hand to explain when all our heads swiveled to stare at him, aghast.

'At least, that way we get to Nico's prison without killing ourselves! Then we can bust _him _and _ourselves _out.' Leo grinned triumphantly and for a moment, I thought his crazy plan wasn't that crazy after all.

'You could do that but once you're in that prison there's no way you're getting out without help.' Liam said, shrugging his shoulders.

Leo looked floored but then brightened up immediately. 'Okay, then _you _bust us out… in return for the Pearl of course.' He added hastily when the guide raised a pointed eyebrow.

'I could… but I have no wish to anger Gaia. In any case, we have a deal.' Liam said, needlessly reminding us of the precarious position we were in. Right then, I decided to talk to Annabeth at the next stop about how we were deal with the guide if he went rogue.

'Yeah. You don't _run _from fights you just _avoid _them.' Percy said bitterly and he regarded Liam with open hostility. The latter shrugged and merely began walking again.

'We can't waste time dawdling. Come.' He called over his shoulder and very, reluctantly, the five of us resumed our tedious hike.

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><p>About forty minutes after our discussion about "Gaia's butlers" as Leo called them; Liam came to a sudden halt and put his hand to the ground again. We crowded around his nervously, waiting, and my suspicious that the man was trying to get us killed were beginning to rise once more when he jerked up and looked at us, his expression grim.<p>

'You need to hide.' Liam said brusquely and without another word, began running up the hillock we'd climbed halfway. We stared at each other for a heartbeat and then took off after him.

Percy crested the hill first and grabbed Liam just as the guide began to slip down the other side.

'What the hell is going on?' Percy demanded and I shivered at his expression. In the gloomy haze, he looked like one of the warrior statues I'd seen around New Rome: defiant, dangerous and very, very, scary.

Liam, however, didn't react except for shaking his hand off. As we caught up with them, Liam cast his gaze around worriedly.

'You need to hide.'

He repeated and made a vague hand gesture.

'Yeah we got that particular memo. _Why?' _Annabeth asked, her grey eyes boring into Liam's. He met her gaze for barely a second and looked away again.

'A scout is heading this way. If he sees you guys…'Liam trailed off but I'd already figured out the end of that sentence. I shifted uncomfortably, trying to ignore my aching legs.

'How do you know a scout is coming?' Frank demanded but Liam waved the question away as though it was unimportant. 'You need to hide.' He repeated and Percy rolled his eyes.

'Okay, fine, what's the plan? Annabeth asked quickly, forestalling whatever Percy was about to say.

Liam nodded, clearly grateful that someone was asking the right questions. 'There's a shallow ditch at the bottom of this hillock. It isn't much but…' He glanced at me and I understood immediately.

'I can widen it.' I said confidently even though the truth was that I couldn't even begin to contemplate how much effort it would require.

'Good. Now follow me and do exactly as I say. We don't have time for an argument.' Liam set off down the hill again and I admired the way he slipped and slid his way down effortlessly.

'Well, that's convenient.' Percy grumbled but started down the hill anyway. The rest of us followed him and though the direness of the situation was just dawning on me, I couldn't help but laugh when Leo lost his footing and rolled down the last few meters of the slope.

Percy helped him brush off the dirt and I trotted over to where Liam was pointing. Thankfully, the ditch was fairly big and it didn't require as much energy as I'd thought it would. Still, by the end of widening it, I was sweating profusely and my knees began to wobble.

As soon as I finished, Liam pushed us all in unceremoniously and made me cover up the opening with loose dirt: enough so that we were hidden but not that much so we couldn't breathe.

Liam gave us a final nod and vanished from my restricted vision. His footsteps vibrated in the earth around us and he moved away a couple of feet (presumably) and came to a stop.

I tried to adjust my position but there wasn't much I could do. The five of us were pretty much squashed together. Percy and Annabeth were on my left and Frank and Leo were on my right.

The ditch itself wasn't much of a hiding place. If anyone got too near it would be apparent that something was hiding inside. It was with that thought it mind that I tried to breathe as silently as possible when I felt loud vibrations approaching.

Some animal –a horse probably– was thundering its way towards us. To my left, Percy managed to pull out Riptide from his pocket. Clearly, he didn't think our ruse with the "scout" was going to work.

The vibrations stopped and a distinct _thud _was heard when something fell to the ground—probably the rider dismounting. I took a deep, silent breath, suddenly afraid that the hammering of my heart was going to give us away.

There was complete silence. Then,

'Liam. I'm surprised to see you here.'

The voice was clear though by the slight quaver, I imagined the speaker to be an old man. Next to me, Annabeth and Percy tensed.

'I could say the same for you, Your Majesty.' Liam replied respectfully, something I didn't know he was capable of.

'Indeed? But aren't you supposed to be at the gate—by Gaia's orders?' The scout asked and though the sounds were muffled by the earth around, I could almost hear the sly tone. My heart began to thump harder.

'Gaia is not my mistress… or my patron.' Liam answered and I could almost imagine the indifference on his face.

A moment of complete silence followed as the scout digested his words. When he spoke again, his quaver had gotten worse as though he was trying to contain his anger.

'Your arrogance likens you to a hero. Be wary of it.'

I turned the words over in my head hoping they'd make more sense but they remained as confusing as ever so I tuned back into the conversation.

'… is cherished, Your Grace, but you still haven't told me why you're in this part of—'

The horse (I was right, it was a horse!) neighed suddenly and I stopped breathing. Frank gulped far too audibly and I tried to shoot him a "shhh" look without moving my head. I failed, of course.

A second of tense silence passed.

Then, the scout spoke and we all relaxed fractionally. Clearly the man didn't listen to his horse. Or, maybe his horse had a habit of neighing unexpectedly.

'I'm looking for the five demigods. Their trail suggests they're heading this way. Have you seen them?'

'No, Your Grace. Then again, I haven't been here too long.' Liam said and I decided to congratulate him on his voice-acting skills later. He was flawless.

'Are you sure of that? Gaia doesn't like traitors…' The scout trailed off silkily and I heard two solid thumps from above as though someone had leaped to their feet.

'Are you accusing me of being a traitor?' Liam asked, his tone equally dangerous.

The scout didn't answer and we waited with baited breath. If the scout knew we were in the vicinity, why had he wasted time conversing with the guide?

Percy's hand tightened on Riptide's handle.

Just when the tension rose to levels, I'd previously thought unobtainable, the scout replied. 'No, of course not. Forgive me if I suggested as much.'

I nearly let out a sigh of relief but Annabeth's warning glance stopped me in time.

'As always, Your Majesty, an apology from you it of generous for me.' Liam said, his tone betraying none of the strain he must have felt.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement: Leo had his hand over his mouth and was swallowing quickly. I tried to catch his eye but, unlike the rest of us who were looking up, he was staring fixedly at the ground.

'Very well, I must continue forward; the demigods _must _be found.' The scout said as a faint vibration followed as though he was stepping up to his horse.

'Of course, Your Majesty.' Liam murmured so softly that I barely heard it. My own heart was thumping along and I shut my eyes and prayed that the scout would leave quickly.

And that was _precisely _when everything when wrong.

Leo coughed.

In the confined space of the ditch it sounded like gunfire. We jerked our heads towards Leo who had both hands clamped over his mouth helplessly.

'What was that?' The scout said sharply and then I felt vibrations—nearing vibrations. The scout had noticed the ditch.

'I'm sorry, Your Grace?' Liam questioned but it was no use; the footsteps had come far too close.

And then, Leo coughed again.

Everything seemed to happen very quickly after that. Percy launched himself upright, uncapping Riptide as he went and pushed his way out of the dirt covering us. I heard dual sounds of swords being pulled from their scabbards and then a strangled cry, followed by a loud _thump. _

I clawed my way out of the dirt after Percy, my hand already gripping the hilt of my _spatha. _A horrible sight met my eyes as I emerged.

A man knelt on the ground and from the tilted gold crown on his head; I guessed he was the scout. Sticking out of his chest were two identical steel swords, dripping blood.

Liam stood behind the scout, a feral gleam in his eye. With a sickening squirt, he pulled the swords out of the scout who promptly collapsed on to the dirt with a blood filled gurgle.

'You… he—' I stammered, looking from Liam to Percy and then to the fallen King. Under the body, blood was beginning to spread quickly. I took a step back, nauseated.

'Did you just—?' Frank's awed tone jarred me back to the present and I glanced back to see that the others had also emerged from the ditch.

'Kill him?' Liam finished and spun his swords carelessly causing flecks of blood to spatter the ground.

'I thought you had a Celestial Bronze sword?' Leo broke in, appearing in front of me thereby blocking my view of the body. Thankfully.

Liam shrugged, 'I have lots of swords.' He swung his blades in a vertical loop and then made to slide them into the back of his jacket, as though there were empty sheaths strapped to it.

The swords disappeared as soon as they neared the jacket as though they'd been sucked away into thin air. Or Barbie Prime.

'How did you—?' Annabeth frowned but Liam waved off the question. Instead he pointed to the body on the ground. 'D'you know who that is—was?'

Leo, Frank and I shook our heads but Percy and Annabeth answered without hesitation. 'King Minos.'

Liam nodded in approval. 'Yes, and he was a very important servant of Gaia's.'

'A very important servant whom you killed.' Liam supplied helpfully and I couldn't help but admire his jocular tone: moments ago we'd all been nearly done for and he acted like it wasn't an issue.

Liam scowled at him. 'Yes, thanks to you Valdez. I have to say, _very well done._'

Leo blushed.

'Anyway, now that he's not going to report back to the main body after us, they'll figure out where we are.' Liam continued after sending one more glare to Leo. 'So there are only two things we can do.'

'Run and hide?' Frank suggested innocently and I smiled despite myself.

Liam didn't look amused at all.

'Run…' He agreed gravely, '… and pray. Because if we're lucky, we have little more than an hour before they catch up to us.'


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: And an update! Oh and for those guys who're wondering when Percy's gonna get around to the Styx, all I've to say is wait a bit. Everything's following a plan. I haven't forgotten about it. **

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><p><strong>20) We Make A Stand. <strong>

**Annabeth**

Liam had been mistaken when he'd said we'd get "little more than hour" because truthfully we got exactly sixty minutes.

Sixty minutes, of which forty-five was spent running at a pace which I wouldn't have thought possible, given our falling energy levels. Though, I suppose the knowledge that we had a hundred or so monsters on our trail could have provided the incentive.

I was so busy keeping myself from falling flat on my face due to exhaustion that I didn't even have the strength to formulate a plan to get rid of our pursuers—once it became apparent that there was no way we were going to outrun them.

Our only hope was Liam and his expression wasn't even near encouraging. I prayed that he knew where he was going, considering he kept checking his map at every opportunity that presented itself.

Finally, just when we were on the verge of a collapse he brought us to a stop and motioned us to gather around the map which he'd spread flat on the ground.

'Right,' Liam began and with a shock I realized that he looked rather winded himself, 'so the situation isn't looking too good.'

'You don't say.' Percy said and I put a hand on his shoulder, signaling him to keep a lid on it. I knew he was only lashing out because he was worried but it was imperative that we kept Liam as cooperative as possible. The guide was our only hope.

Liam cleared his throat and ignored Percy. 'I do, however, have a plan.'

'A plan?' Frank echoed as he raised his hand to wipe the dirt and sweat off his face.

'Will it work?' Hazel asked.

Liam sighed, 'I hope so. It's the only idea that has a chance.'

I swallowed and tried to make the action push down the feeling of helplessness but it didn't work. Under my hand, Percy's shoulder tensed.

'We are currently here.' Liam placed a finger on the map and I tried not to feel disheartened by the fact that we weren't even halfway to where Nico was being held.

'About half a mile from here is the original riverbed of the Lethe.' Liam continued, tracing a line with his finger a little way down the map.

'The Lethe?' Percy repeated and Liam nodded without looking up.

'The river which wipes your memory if you take a dip in it?' Percy persisted and Liam glanced up, fairly annoyed. 'The very same.'

'Whoa. There's a river which wipes your memory?' Frank exclaimed, his eyes widening rather comically between the blackened lines of dirt which he hadn't managed to brush off.

Next to me, Leo let out a huff of annoyance. 'Yeah, it's called the Lethe. Now that we've got that out of the way, could he continue?'

Frank scowled but didn't say anything. Liam glanced at both of them briefly and I saw the faintest trace of amusement before it disappeared.

'If we go a mile down the riverbed we'll come to one of the canal walls of the Lethe.'

'Canal walls?' I asked, momentarily fascinated by what I'd just heard. Percy raised an eyebrow at me and I looked down, faintly embarrassed. 'I mean, go on.'

Liam waited a beat, probably to see if I had anything else to say and then said, 'I was thinking, if we can draw our enemies out till the wall then you,' he gestured to Percy with an irritable flick of his hand, 'can break the wall and unleash the Lethe on them.'

A moment of silence followed his words and I stopped myself from exchanging a worried glance with Percy. If this was the only plan with a chance of working, he needed all the support he could get.

'I have a question.' Frank finally said and raised his hand, looking a little uncertain. 'Assuming Percy can break the walls—'

'–and we're not sure that he can–' Leo put in helpfully.

'—then won't we have to stay clear of the water?' finished Frank.

Liam nodded and glanced down at his map again. 'Yes. That's why we'll have to be near the wall when he breaks them. You can break them, right?' The last part he directed to Percy in what I could swear was a challenging tone.

Sure enough, Percy's posture stiffened. 'Yes.'

I tried to protest, listing all the various reasons why I thought the plan was not going to work and that we should attempt for another but Liam cut me off by standing up.

'Okay then.' He said, looking grimmer than usual, 'let's get into position.'

* * *

><p>"Position" was in fact a hundred meters beyond the bottom of another hillock, (which we scaled in record time) on the crest of a ledge which fell away to the riverbed: which in turn had tall, rough and uninviting walls on either side. In fact the view from the ledge made it seem like we were gazing upon a miniature Grand Canyon.<p>

The riverbed itself seemed to be made from granite, smoothened by years and years of the Lethe's water flowing over it. To get to it, we had to climb down the ridge we were standing on. A mile away, higher than eye level, a grey wall could be seen, twinkling in the gloom: the canal wall.

It took a good ten minutes to get all of us down—ten nerve wracking minutes which were so not only because of the sheer drop but also because of the steady reminder in my head which told me our time was almost up. I was second after Liam and even as I jumped the last few feet, he bent down and put his hand to the ground.

'How much time?' I asked, keeping my tone fairly calm. There was no point freaking out; we had a plan and all we could do was stick to it and hope for the best.

Liam frowned and glanced up the top of the hill, his gaze bypassing Frank who was dangling rather precariously above Percy, 'They're close. Very close.'

I didn't say anything and we waited in silence as the others joined us one-by-one. I looked around, trying not to pay attention to the distant rumbling sound which sounded like muted thunder. The massive shape of the wall loomed in the distance and I had to contain the impulse to run towards it.

Between us and our salvation was half a mile of riverbed which suddenly didn't look too smooth now that I was standing on it. The topography was pretty uneven and a few outcrops of jagged rock marred the slope.

'These are for you.' Liam muttered even as the distant rumbling turned into a roar. I turned back around, my eyes automatically going to the top of the hill. Liam tossed Frank his bow and quiver.

'Is that—?' Frank asked, his face ashen.

'Yes.' Liam cut him off abruptly and in quick succession pulled out two shields from his bag. Ignoring our startled (and fairly apprehensive) faces, he threw one each to Frank and Leo.

'We divide into teams of two. Frank, you're with Percy: both of you will retreat first…' Liam waved off Percy's objections and raised his voice so that we could hear him above the steadily increasing sound of an approaching army, '…Frank has the bow so he can cover us and you need to get to the wall first.'

The guide then turned to me, a single drop of sweat betraying his nervousness, 'You and Leo are next. I know your knife is good for close-quarters fighting but someone needs to protect Valdez.'

He began speaking to Hazel next, informing her that they'd be the last to retreat, leaving me with no choice but to accept what he'd said and draw my own conclusions as to why he thought Leo needed protection. I figured that he'd correctly assumed that Leo didn't have much fighting experience.

'Why the shields?' Frank half-yelled over the din of the monsters which were hounding for demigod blood.

'Arrows. As soon as they crest the hill—' the rest of Liam's words were drowned by a bloodcurdling scream. Simultaneously, our heads swiveled up just in time to see a hooded rider dressed entirely in black appear on top of the hill, joined seconds later by a horde of monsters.

'Percy, start running for that wall at the first opportunity you get.' Liam muttered quietly and drew a third shield from Barbie Prime before slinging the bag onto his shoulders.

Percy opened his mouth to reply but the guy on the horse chose that moment to speak as well. He raised his hand to ask for silence from his assembled army.

'Heroes.' He called and I flinched. The rider's voice had a raspy quality to it as though somebody had hammered nails into his larynx. It invoked some primal instinct of self-preservation in me and I had a sudden urge to slide my knife out and throw it at him.

'My mistress has requested an audience… if you would be so kind as to comply.'

Neither of us replied. There was utmost silence except for the slight sounds of movement on top of the hill.

'It would be unwise to fight us children. You see, if we cannot capture, then we shall kill.' The guy said silkily and his horse neighed in agreement. I shifted closer to Leo and grasped the edge of the shield Liam had given him.

'Surrender now and I promise not to hurt you.'

The rider said and I detected a hint of impatience in his tone. Behind me, I heard Percy shift closer to Frank.

'Please.' The hooded figure called invitingly but still neither of us said anything. I glanced around quickly and caught Percy's eye. He gave me a brief, grim nod, silently telling me to be careful, which oddly enough I'd decided to be anyway.

'I see…' The leader of the army sighed, 'I really do hate doing this…'

I would have died if Liam hadn't yelled "cover!" just then. As some unknown signal, a hundred arrows rose over the heads of the frontline monsters and hurtled down to us. I knocked Leo's legs out from under him and raised the shield over both of us just as the first arrow hit, jarring my arm painfully.

Several more followed and I pulled the shield up so that both Leo and I were well covered. The arrows fell all around us as well, kicking up bits of fragmented rock from the riverbed. The noise was overwhelming: it sounded like a thousand pencils were raining down on us, punctuated by deep gongs whenever the arrows hit the shields.

And then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. I took a quick peek over the rim of my shield and my heart jumped to my throat. Under the cover fire, the monsters had run down the hill and had reached the ledge. The only thing separating us from them was the nasty drop off the side—a drop which I had a feeling that most of them could jump.

As I lifted the shield and dragged Leo back a couple of paces, a tall bear-like thing pushed his way to the front and peered over the outcrop as if gauging the fall. More monsters joined him as they slid down the hill with ease.

I pulled Leo back a few more paces, behind Liam and Hazel (who were also edging back.) On top of the hill, the rider threw back his hood and smiled… or tried to. I wanted to gasp, because the skin on his face was stretched tightly over his bones, making him look emancipated to the extreme, but I didn't want to give anything away.

'Give up…' He taunted, '…you're trapped.' I looked at the monsters which had now filled the slope of the hill, thought of the canal wall half a mile away and tried to stop my heart from sinking.

Then, just as bear dude tensed to jump, I heard a sharp whistling sound from behind. Before I could react, three arrows shot past me and embedded themselves in the wall of the ledge.

For a second, nothing happened. Bear-dude grunted and raised an eyebrow rather enquiringly at us while his fellow frontliners tried to peer over their feet to see what had happened.

The arrows exploded.

The blast was so powerful that the ledge plus half the hill above it disappeared into a cloud of dust. The monsters fell, amidst cries of terror and flailing arms and on top of the hill, their leader fell off his horse.

Leo and I clambered to our feet (the shockwave had knocked us over) just as Liam pulled Hazel up.

'Run!' He shouted and I realized that it wasn't just an order for Percy. The explosion had bought us time –precious time– and we needed to make full use of it.

I turned around, ignored the heavy exhaustion in my limbs, caught Leo and Frank (who was still looking a little dumbstruck at the destruction he'd caused) and took off.

Percy was already two hundred meters ahead and gaining because he had no shield to carry. I figured he must have moved just as Frank had drawn his arrows.

Suddenly, Leo stumbled and took me down with him, narrowly missing Frank on the way. The latter paused to help but Liam shouted, 'Stop and I'll kill you myself!' at him so viciously that he paled and continued moving.

I struggled to my feet… until I was unexpectedly aided by Liam who caught Leo and me by the scuff of our necks and gave us a powerful pull.

'What're you playing at Valdez?' Liam growled as the four of us tripped and stumbled our way up the riverbed. Already I could hear the beginnings of an enraged roar: the monsters had clearly regrouped and were beginning their pursuit. Their footsteps were beginning to pound behind us.

A shadow passed over us and I glanced up (nearly twisting my ankle in the process) to see a huge outcrop of rock hanging off the edge of one of the taller riverbed walls. Six hundred meters ahead, the canal wall winked forlornly.

'Frank get to the wall and cover us from there.' Liam called just as a huge rock formation loomed up from nowhere. Cursing, I held my hands out and jumped, scrabbling on to whatever hold I could find.

Next to me, Frank protested but Liam let loose a torrent of curses that would have made a sailor blush and sent him packing. I hauled myself over the rock, bruising my hands in the process and rolled down the other side.

'Weapons.' Liam hissed, once he'd hauled me to my feet and gestured at me to flank Leo. Even as I slid my knife out, I marveled at Liam's strategy. He'd chosen the perfect spot for a stand: our enemies would have to climb over the rock to get to us and in those brief moments they'd be completely at our mercy.

The pounding was so loud that my eardrums began vibrating. Diagonally in front of me, Liam dropped his shield to the floor and reached back with both hands as though he was trying to work out a few kinks in his shoulders.

Instead, he pulled out two identical celestial bronze swords from the grooves in his jacket: grooves I'd previously thought to be some sort of fashion statement. Liam spun the swords in his hand, causing whatever little light there was to flash off them.

'Did he just…?' Leo looked at me but because of the noise I didn't hear the rest of his sentence though I figured it would go something like: "… pull swords out from his back?"

I didn't answer which was actually a smart thing to do because just then a monster appeared on top of the rock and rocked on his feet, a little off balance. I could barely see his face because of the darkness but by his build I figured he was one of Bear Dude's kin.

Because Hazel was closest, she moved to get rid of him but she hadn't gone a couple of inches when a bronze shield hit the monster on his head and pushed him off the top.

I shot a congratulatory smile at Leo who gave me his trademark crazy grin and then withdrew his hammer from his toolbelt. I gripped my knife tightly and forced my brain into battle-mode as three more monsters leaped on to the rock.

Liam's swords moved and cut through two of them in the blink of an eye. The third one leaped over Hazel and threatened to crush Leo but I threw my knife and it crumpled into a pile of dust.

More and more monsters clambered over the rock and I had to roll forward to retrieve my weapon, letting Liam dispatch them with his hammer.

Within seconds, we were on the verge of being overwhelmed. Leo and I had already retreated several steps which Liam and Hazel had copied to prevent a vacuum being formed between us.

I was on automatic: slash, stab, duck, jab and pile after pile of monster dust was created but they kept coming. I could barely keep up and Leo and Hazel had already retreated further up the bed, leaving me to fall in beside Liam. Together we managed to hold the line till three slipped through.

Two seconds later, Hazel screamed, I heard Leo yell and then a tell-tale whistling sound, followed by a soft "swoosh" as the monster disintegrated.

'Valdez, take Hazel and run!' Liam yelled, expertly knocking aside two Dracane so I could slash through the Empousa behind them.

It didn't take long for me to figure out Liam's technique and I changed my style accordingly to cover his weak spots. He was an excellent swordsman though and in the back of my head I wondered how Percy would hold against him.

However, even between the two of us fighting like there was no tomorrow, we could barely defend ourselves and slowly but surely we retreated. We'd have died twenty times over anyway had it not been for Frank's arrows which hit the mark every time.

Suddenly, a giant axe-wielding Colchis Bull appeared and Liam fell back, needing the extra room to fight it. I turned my head instinctively and in my distraction a Dracane sliced me across my left arm.

White-hot pain erupted down my aside and I stumbled back, dazed just as two things happened at once. The Dracane in front of me exploded and a bright red glow shot out from behind me, dispelling the darkness and blinding me temporarily.

I tripped backwards some more trying to shade my eyes with one hand and hold off whichever monster was attacking me with the other. I heard Liam yell in warning and a second later something punched me in the gut and I fell over. My hand automatically went to the spot and in the sudden blinding pulse of pure agony I barely felt the arrow shaft.

I hit the ground and swallowed a mouthful of mud before something slammed into me.

I almost welcomed the darkness which overtook me.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: A short chapter so I'll try to compensate by updating within the next few hours. The thing is that Percy's perspective had to be split into several parts and this part, unfortunately, got the shorter stick. **

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><p><strong>21) I Get A Terrible Surprise<strong>

**Percy- I**

Before I get to the part where I lost my mind, let me fill you in on what happened before that.

As soon as Frank lifted his bow, I made my move. I'd seen him shoot before and I knew that whatever he was aiming for would be going down. (Of course he didn't think it appropriate to fill me in that he was aiming for the damn ledge.)

I dropped the huge, two-man shield that Frank and I had used, spun on the spot and dug my heels in to get a good start.

The ledge (plus half the hillside) fell with a resounding crash as I took my first three strides and even though I really, really wanted to look back and see the damage caused, I didn't risk it. The terrain was bad enough to suppress my ADHD and keep my eyes on the ground.

The wood nymphs from Camp half-Blood would've probably mentioned how much I sucked at athletics and at any other time they'd have been right but right then, with a hundred (slightly) irritated monsters behind me and the fate of my friend's lives on my shoulders, I ran like the freaking wind.

The ground zipped away under my feet. I jumped, hopped and skipped my way over the rocks and nearly broke my neck several times in the process but I didn't stop.

The riverbed sloped upwards and twenty seconds into my sprint, my legs felt like they were going to fall off. The previous exhaustion (forgotten for a few moments because of the sudden adrenalin) came back with full force. I stumbled, hit my shoulder against the rough, uninviting bank and nearly did a face plant into the floor.

I'd barely rightened myself when a huge dinosaur like tooth masquerading as a rock loomed up out of nowhere. I took three extra large strides, executed a perfect somersault, landed on my feet and continued running. Too bad the nymphs from camp weren't around to see me. I felt like I could've rocked (no pun intended) their stupid obstacle course.

A thunderous roar broke behind me which only spurred me on. Up ahead, the grey canal walls twinkled like beacon of hope. I gritted my teeth, promised myself a long rest after this was all over and poured on the speed.

From the hillside when I'd gotten my first glimpse of the wall, I hadn't felt too confident about breaking it. Now, up close and personal, it wasn't making my spirits rise at all. Twenty meters of solid… what? Cement? Concrete? Underworld Muck? How in the world was I supposed to just break it?

The wall was built using the natural support of the rising sides of the riverbed. I leapt up to one of them and continued to climb.

Already, I could hear the sound of the water. Millions of gallons of water rushing by tends to make a lot of noise.

Looking back, I realized that climbing up to the canal wall was possibly the most dangerous thing I'd done on the quest. The Lava Wall back at camp, even the fortress during the Roman War Games didn't come close but I was so intent on getting to my destination, I didn't have time to register the fear.

Just as I got to the top, a yell caught my attention. I looked down and found Frank at the bottom, desperately searching for footholds, his bow slung over his back. I shouted down directions to him (though I doubt he heard) and turned back, concentrating on the water flowing in front of me.

I was standing on the flat surface on top of the wall and just a step away (and a few meters below) the black waters of the Lethe rushed along urgently. About ten feet opposite me, a second wall stood, containing the river.

I wasted precious seconds staring at the river in awe. I'd seen the Lethe before but that had been in the Underworld. In the Outlands, the Lethe was strong. It was fast. It was _ferocious. _

I grinned to myself.

The plan was going to work _perfectly_.

Closing my eyes, I concentrated … and nearly yelped with shock when the surface beneath my feet began to shudder. Whoever had constructed the wall hadn't done a very good job of it. It was weak—having been thoroughly abused by the strength of the flowing water. I just had to give it one big shove and the entire structure would collapse.

Frank yelled again, distracting me and I knelt, looking down. He was about halfway up the riverbank but he wasn't climbing any higher. He had his bow out and as I watched, he nocked an arrow and let it fly.

I looked beyond, taking in what was happening to the others for the first time. Quarter of a mile away, a little behind the Dragon Tooth, Liam and Annabeth were holding back a virtual tide of monsters.

A little way behind them, Leo and Hazel were fighting too. At least Leo was, Hazel seemed to be crouched down, her sword lying on its side. I watched, horrified as one bear like thing moved in on her but the next second, an arrow sprouted from its head and it exploded into a cloud of dust just as Leo dispatched its companion with his hammer.

A feeling of helplessness took hold of me. More than anything, I wanted to bust Riptide out and join the foray but even my ADHD brain knew that abandoning my post would not be a good thing. The wall had to break at a moment's notice and I had to be able to control the water away from my friends so that they didn't lose their memories.

The wall breaking itself wasn't too much of an issue. I'd have been able to do it from a distance but controlling the water? Not so much. As much as it annoyed me, I had to wait and trust the Fates (and Frank) to ensure the safety of my friends.

Leo was now running flat out for the wall, dragging Hazel along behind him. My throat constricted when I saw two monsters push past Liam and Annabeth and go after them. I shout to Frank but he was already shooting as fast as he could.

Unable to just stand around, I ran back to the edge where the wall met the riverbank and began climbing down. I wasn't going to stray too far but I entertained thoughts of joining Frank and using Riptide like a javelin or something.

I was about two feet above Frank when it happened.

A single Bear like thing, who'd managed to avoid Frank's arrows caught up with Leo and Hazel as they approached the foot of the wall. The bear caught Hazel's injured arm by pure fluke, spinning her around so that she hit the rocky barrier of the riverbank with a solid thump.

Frank yelled and moved his bow to get a clear shot but Leo was faster. He swung around and caught the bear with a nasty uppercut from his hammer. The Bear stumbled and teetered, looking as if he was going to crumple on top of Hazel's still body any second.

For me, time slowed down.

I heard the _twang _of Frank's bow and Leo's strangled shout. Then, just as the arrow hit the bear, Leo erupted into flames.

His entire body went up like the world's largest birthday candle. Below me, Frank shrank back in fear. A red glow, emitting from fiery Leo raced across the cavern and dispelled the gloom in less than five seconds.

My brain was still trying to process the signals my eyes were sending when, inexplicably, my stomach clenched.

Now, demigods know to _never _ignore feelings of uncertainty. If you sense something is wrong, report it; it might just save your life.

The feeling I got was a hundred times stronger. I knew, without a doubt, what was going to happen next.

My head tilted of its own accord and I watched the glow light up everything in perfect clarity—including Liam and Annabeth. Again, of their own accord, my eyes slid to the right where on top of the right riverbank a monster stood, holding a bow. Taking advantage of the sudden improved spectacle before it, the monster took aim and shot.

The arrow moved too fast for me to see but somehow amidst all the noise of the water and the din of the monsters, I heard the cry as the arrow hit its mark.

I turned my head back, just in time to see Annabeth fall.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Two hours after the earlier one. Told you, I'd update.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>22) Somehow I didn't Picture Annabeth With her Shirt Off Like This…<strong>

**Percy-II**

My brain shut down.

It just stopped working as fear (mind numbing, ruthlessly gripping fear) invaded my being. I stopped breathing and for second, I could've sworn my heart didn't complete its beat. I was completely and totally paralyzed.

Of course, just because _I _stopped moving didn't mean that time did too. Frank yelled, Leo yelled and far ahead, I heard Liam yell. The latter, more than the other two broke my inability to function and the fear vanished, replaced immediately by anger.

Terrifying, sanity-consuming, anger.

Part of me (a very small part I'll admit) was screaming at me to get it together. To focus, to concentrate and most importantly: to control my rage.

I didn't listen to that part.

I jumped down and landed on Frank's left, not very clear about what I was going to do next. To my far right, next to the opposite riverbank, a section of the wall broke off and crashed into the riverbed. It was followed immediately by a loud groaning noise and the front wall of the canal began to shake in earnest.

'Percy!' Frank shouted.

I didn't listen. Honestly, I wasn't even seeing correctly. Everything around me was hazy as though I was watching the world through thick bottle glass. The sounds were muted, the colors washed out.

I was half-aware that people were still in danger—Leo had put his fire out and was attempting to carry Hazel up the riverbank. Beyond them, Liam was moving around like a rattle-snake, slashing at monsters and keeping them from trampling Annabeth.

I shouldn't have looked at Annabeth.

My gut pulled and huge cracks began to appear across the canal wall. The structure bulged outwards as the river pushed against it, sensing its weakness. The Lethe was waiting; waiting for that _one _push which I nearly gave it—had it not been for Frank.

Thank the gods for Frank.

He threw himself at me and for a moment my rage subsided and I lost my concentration. Riptide was in my hand immediately and I would've cut his head off had I not realized who he was at the last moment.

Even so, I kicked him off none too gently.

'What're you doing?' I demanded furiously, getting to my feet.

Frank glanced at me and then away, down the side of the ledge we'd rolled on to, to Leo and Hazel. He looked like he wanted to hit me. Or burst into tears. Or maybe both.

'Both the walls. Break _both _walls.'

He said frantically and jumped down, using his rather unsuspected agility to climb down the bank quickly. For a moment, I just stood there stunned, a glowing sword in my hand.

And then everything clicked into place.

Frank wanted me to break both walls—the one I'd already cracked and the one _behind _it. Doing so, would lessen the amount of overspill of the Lethe on this side of the riverbed, consequently reducing chances of Leo, Hazel and now Frank (since I assumed he'd gone to help them) getting wet.

The entire thought process took about a second and while that was happening I took a fleeting look to see if Liam had faltered.

He hadn't.

Instead, he'd (quite intelligently) dragged Annabeth and himself on top of the Dragon's Tooth and was now fending off a dozen monsters on his own. As I watched, more monsters broke away and began to run up the riverbed, heading for the other three.

I took one last look at Annabeth –I could barely see her thanks to the monsters– and focused my anger. I closed my eyes, ignoring the screams and yells of people fighting and with considerably less effort than I'd previously thought, broke both canal walls.

The sheer destruction was awesome.

Imagine a damn breaking. Now imagine people in the path of the falling water. Imagine them screaming in terror. Now multiply that scenario by then.

It was like I'd fired a very large, very liquid, cannonball.

The water ripped out so fast that I barely had time to force it away from where I figured Leo, Frank and Hazel would be. The monsters who'd been in pursuit of them attempted to turn around but they got gobbled up by the churning water before they took two steps.

I didn't pay attention to them. Instead, I concentrated my efforts on keeping the destructive force of the river away from my friends. The Lethe didn't like that at all. It was hungry and wild and it didn't want to bend to the will of some upstart son of the sea-god.

I wrestled to keep control and twenty seconds passed before I opened my eyes. As I'd broken the dam, the noise had become deafening. Aside from the water moving, the screams of the monsters had been quite loud as well.

Now, however, everything was strangely quiet. My eyes were met by a rather frightening sight. Some parts of the canal walls were still forlornly hanging off the riverbank. Between the two banks, the Lethe flowed along briskly; its black water adding quite effectively to the already gloomy atmosphere.

And the monster army on our tail?

No sign of them… or very few signs of them. Some swifter ones who'd gotten out of the way by climbing up to the top of the banks, now stared quite vacantly at the water a couple of feet below them. They couldn't cross the banks and they couldn't approach me. They were stuck.

The rest of the army had either drowned or had got splashed so thoroughly that were wandering around with silly grins. There was no sign of their leader -the thin dude- or his horse.

Almost unwillingly I looked at Dragon Tooth and nearly whooped with joy when I saw Liam bending over another body. They hadn't drowned! In an instant, I dived off the bank into the river and willed the currents to move me along.

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><p>The swim was short but tiring. As my anger began to get replaced by worry, the deep-seated exhaustion moved in. A dull throbbing from my shoulder told me that my earlier tryst with the riverbank had not been gentle.<p>

I saw the base of Dragon Tooth, angled myself upward and shot out of the water. Thankfully, I didn't slip on the wet stone when I landed and I got to Liam without a problem.

He was on the highest point of the rock—the only dry area and was bending over Annabeth whose eyes were wide open even though the front of her shirt looked like a raccoon had died all over it.

I pushed the thought away and joined Liam, wordlessly taking one of Annabeth's hands. She didn't even glance at me and when I moved closer I noticed that her eyes were glazed.

I took a deep breath and turned to Liam but he was already working busily. He tore the end of his shirt and pressed it to Annabeth's abdomen. It was only then that I saw the wound properly.

The tail feathers of an arrow shaft were sticking out of the side of her stomach.

I resisted the urge to throw up and continued watching Liam work, comforted by the thought that Annabeth was alive at the very least.

'We need to take her back.' Liam said urgently, interrupting my thoughts.

'Back where?' I responded, trying my best to not focus on the details of what he was doing. I'd been in battle before. I'd seen battle injuries and though they'd bothered me, I'd always managed to move past them.

But I couldn't this time.

This was _Annabeth. _How was I supposed to look at an arrow sticking out of her and not feel the need to be sick? A sensation of guilt washed over me, adding to the nausea, the anger, the fear and the worry; _how had I let this happen?_

'Back to the others. We shouldn't get separated again.'

It took me a second to realize that Liam had answered my question. He finished tying the remnants of his shirt around the wound and slid an arm around her back.

'What're you doing?' I yelped, gripping the hand I'd taken possession of a little tighter.

Liam spared me an annoyed look. 'I just said we have to get her back and since she's not exactly mobile, I figured I'd carry her.'

I kept my eyes on him and pointed in the general direction of Annabeth's stomach with my free hand. 'How can you _move _her when…' I gulped, forcing the words out, '… that _thing _is still inside?'

In answer, Liam put his other arm beneath Annabeth's legs and lifted her up in a smooth motion, ignoring my squawks of protest. I scrambled to my feet, still holding the one hand.

'The arrow's _preventing _blood loss. I'm not moving it till I figure out what all organs are injured.' Liam responded and began picking his way down the wet rock. I let go of Annabeth's hand, figuring that it would help him keep balance and the loss of contact made me feel, if possible, even worse.

I tried to think clearly. Optimistically. I'd seen arrow wounds before and most of them could be healed with nectar and ambrosia. But even as I clung to that ray of hope, I knew Annabeth's wound was too deep. The arrow shaft was buried three-quarters of its length inside her.

In a moment of weakness I wondered why it wasn't sticking out of her back.

_That, _of course, didn't help the general state I was in and I nearly threw up again. Liam helped by distracting me: I had to get all three of us across the stretch of water and back to the canal wall (or what was left of it, anyway.)

The journey in the huge air bubble I created went by in a daze. I alternated between cursing Gaia, Leo, the gods and finally myself. Liam didn't say a word, only moving to check Annabeth's temperature every half a minute.

Climbing _up _the riverbank was even trickier and Liam had to pick her up in a fireman's lift—though he had to improvise a little because of the damn arrow. I followed him fretfully, constantly checking to make sure that the piece of shirt covering the wound hadn't slipped and that she wasn't bleeding again.

Somewhere between the first ten meters and the next, my guilt and anger morphed into one big ball and settled in the pit of my stomach.

But with it, came a new resolve.

I was _not _going to let her die. We were going to fix whatever there was to be fixed. Everything was going to turn out just _fine. _

By the time we reached the top, I was on autopilot. Liam led the way down the other side of the riverbank till we came to a flat-ish surface about a mile wide.

It looked like a step, cut into the sloping wall. Along it a wide trench had been dug and it was in this that we found Frank who was huddled over Hazel's dazed form. A little way to the side, Leo sat looking miserable.

I forced myself not to heard over and punch the living daylights out of him.

Liam paused next to Frank and gestured to me to hand him some nectar and ambrosia from Barbie Prime. I did so, giving Frank my best encouraging smile even though my lips felt as stiff as cardboard.

'It's not that bad. Only a bit of a bruise.' Liam reassured Frank quietly and the latter nodded, his face braking into a semblance of a smile. Liam and I didn't stick around and we moved forward till we came to a slight bend.

'Here,' the guide said, a tad hoarsely and together we laid Annabeth down in a sitting position, against a rock. As soon as he unwrapped the makeshift bandage, Liam took off Barbie Prime and began to search fervently inside it. To me he said,

'Take off her shirt.'

'_What?_'

He shot me a weary look. 'I need to examine the wound. Take off the damn shirt, Percy.'

I stared at him but he turned back to his bag without a word so I moved closer and very hesitantly began undoing the top buttons. My hands trembled and I took a deep breath to steady myself. I was so not looking forward to what I was about to see.

'What are you doing?' Liam snapped.

My temper boiled at his tone. I couldn't help it; the past hour had felt like a lifetime and the next hour, I knew, was going to be worse.

'Undoing the buttons. What does it _look _like I'm doing?'

We glared at each other and then without changing expression, the guide knocked my hands aside. I opened my mouth to protest but he didn't give me the chance. With a quick tug, he ripped the shirt down the front, sending the buttons flying and yanked the material down so that the wound was in display… along with other things.

At any other moment in any other universe, I would've blushed. I'd seen Annabeth without a top, what, two times at the most? And each time I'd gone as red as a tomato.

But now, looking at the blood covering her, I felt like pulling out the arrow from her abdomen and sticking it into my chest.

Annabeth moaned and her eyes fluttered open. I was so surprised that I simply stared at her as she regarded me groggily.

'Am I dead?'

I shook my head immediately and found her hand, gathering it up in mine. 'No, you're very much alive. And going to stay that way.'

She swallowed and then winced as though the action pained her. I hoped she wouldn't look down because her front was quite a mess –and she didn't– but she did say something else.

'It burns.'

'What?' Liam and I spoke together. She closed her eyes and for a moment I thought she'd passed out again but then she opened them and I could see the sheer agony she was experiencing.

Something, which felt suspiciously like a knife, went straight through me.

'It burns. My wound… burns.' Annabeth whispered again, much to my confusion. I glanced at Liam but his expression didn't make me feel better at all. He looked like he'd just been told to attend a funeral.

'Are you sure? Are you sure it's _burning?_' Liam asked and I heard the tremor in his voice. I gripped Annabeth's hand tightly and tried to reassure myself that everything was going to be fine. My voice didn't get the memo; it came out sounding wildly panicked.

'What's so great if it burns? I mean there's a freaking _arrow_ inside her!'

The second I said it, I wished I could've taken the words back but when I glanced at Annabeth, she didn't look surprised in the least. I suppose, it being her body and all, she'd figured out what'd happened to her.

'It means the arrow is poisoned… doesn't it?' Annabeth said quietly, looking to Liam for confirmation. I looked as well, hoping the guide would just give his annoyed glance and proclaim us all to be idiots but he instead he looked at me, fairly haunted.

'I'm sorry… I don't—I can't cure the poison, it's too…' He stuttered off, unable to finish.

A curious feeling of determination took hold of me. I'd done this before. I'd held Annabeth's when she'd been hit by a poisoned blade. I'd managed to keep her alive then and I was damned sure that I was going to do the same now.

'Do something.' I said, looking at Liam steadily.

He shrugged his shoulders helplessly. 'I don't know what poison was used so I don't know which antidote to counter it with!'

'I don't care, just do _something. _Anything!'

I worked hard to keep my voice from breaking but I think it broke towards the end anyway. I didn't move my gaze from Liam's and for a second, his blue eyes flashed with… what? Sympathy? Resolve? I couldn't tell.

He sighed and looked at his bag rather unwillingly, 'I don't know if this'll work—'

'Just do it.' I cut him off and glanced at Annabeth half expecting her to crack a grin at my Nike infomercial impression. Instead she was watching with a rather analytical expression. I had no idea what she was thinking about but I didn't want to know. I'd ask her later. There _would be _a later to ask her.

Meanwhile Liam brought out rolls of bandages, a flask of nectar, several squares of ambrosia and what looked like a beetle-nut leaf. I only recognized the latter because of a project I'd once done on South Asia. I stared at it but didn't ask questions.

'We have to get the arrow out.' Liam informed us, refusing to meet either Annabeth's eye or mine. I nodded; I'd expected this. Annabeth however looked like she'd just swallowed a spider. That is to say, _fairly_ terrified.

'It's going to be fine.' I told her but she didn't respond, choosing instead to tighten her grip on my hand. I couldn't look at her without bringing up my huge package of emotions so I concentrated on Liam who'd crushed the beetle-nut leaf into paste and mixed it in with the nectar.

Next, he unrolled the bandages and doused it with said nectar. That done, he looked at me.

'You pull it out. I'll wrap the bandages. It's going to bleed like crazy.'

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Disengaging my hand from Annabeth's I traded positions with Liam. I placed my left hand on her shoulder to hold her down and wrapped my fingers of my right hand on the arrow shaft.

Even though the action made me want to poke myself with a rusted pitchfork, I looked her in the eye and said, 'it'll be over in a sec. Just… relax okay? Everything's going to be fine.'

To her credit, she nodded, even though she knew I was lying before turning her head away and closing her eyes. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I'd learned how to pull arrows out; Chiron had showed me.

I began very slowly but Annabeth tensed immediately and let out half a whimper. I forced myself to ignore it and kept going, maneuvering the arrow carefully so that it wouldn't get stuck in anything.

Aside from the poison, she'd been very lucky. From what I figured, the arrow hadn't pierced much except for muscle. Gathering confidence, I pulled harder and bit back a curse when Annabeth screamed. It wasn't loud or shrill but it tore right through me. Doing my best to ignore her, I continued, carefully managing the head so that it wouldn't rip out more muscle fibers.

Liam was on the wound in a flash and I helped tie it down, our hands staining the cloth red. When we finished I looked at Annabeth and found a single tear track glittering on her cheek. She was also muttering the dirtiest of curses in Ancient Greek and English.

Liam and I grinned at each other in a rare moment of camaraderie and I caught Annabeth's hand again. Her fingers clenched around mine and I'd never been happier to have my bones crushed in a vice-like grip.

'Will the antidote work?' I asked quietly, wishing Liam and I could have the conversation in a more secluded place. Annabeth did not have to hear the truth, not in the state she was in.

Liam sighed, 'I hope so. It's my best guess.'

As usual he didn't look optimistic. In fact he looked downright guilty. I ignored the stabbing pain in my chest and said fiercely, 'it'll work. It _has_ to.'

Liam didn't reply. He packed up his supplies, leaving the green nectar, ambrosia and bandages with me. 'You have to change the dressing in an hour.'

'Okay.'

'And don't fall asleep!' This is he said to Annabeth who gave him a brief, painful smile. She was breathing shallowly, giving her muscles a minimum workout.

'I'm serious.' Liam said looking at me, 'don't let her fall asleep.'

I assured him I wouldn't and he left muttering about the need to check on Hazel. I let him go; he'd done the best he could. But as he left, a horrible feeling made me realize that his best may not have been enough.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: I'm hoping to finish Percy's perspective by the weekend. Phew. hard work I tell you. **

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><p><strong>23) What Part Of 'Rest' Don't You Get, Seaweed Brain?<strong>

**Percy-III**

I took a deep, steadying breath, fixed my "completely relaxed" expression on to my face and turned back to Annabeth.

She looked _terrible_.

Her face was dirty with mud streaks all over it. Her hair wasn't in a better state either; it looked like something a pigeon might have nested in. Her skin was pale and her eyes slightly bloodshot. Her left shoulder…

'Oh gods. You're bleeding.' I muttered and let go of her hand to reach for the bandages Liam had left behind. Since all _my _supplies were still in Barbie Prime, I settled for dousing the cloth with the green nectar. Surely, more antidote in her system wouldn't hurt her chances of survival?

Using one end of the bandage, I wiped off the wound which proved to be pretty shallow. Aside from one wince, Annabeth stayed quiet while I dressed the cut. It was only then I realized that her shirt was still ripped down the front. Almost instantaneously, I blushed.

'Um, Annabeth?'

She raised an eyebrow tiredly. 'Yeah?'

I tried very hard to not show my discomfort and waved to the buttons scattered around. 'Do you, er… want another shirt?'

She snorted with laughter and though it made me feel much better so see in her slightly better spirits, I couldn't stop the blush which was spreading up my neck.

'Another shirt would be great, Percy.' She said, grinning widely at me. I rolled my eyes in response. The idiot nearly dies and then has the energy to laugh at me. _Where _was the logic in that?

'I'll go get one from Liam, okay? It'll be just a sec.' I said as cheerily as I could, suddenly not wanting to leave at all. Annabeth nodded wanly, all previous good spirits forgotten. She looked so sick that for a second my feet resisted the command I'd given them. What if something happened in my momentary absence?

I shook myself out of such morbid thoughts and gave her a quick smile as I got to my feet.

'Don't fall asleep!' I called over my shoulder, beginning my power walk to find Liam. I rounded the corner and the scene which met my eye was almost a merry campfire—the type which people put on to postcards and send to their friends. Almost but not quite.

Frank and Hazel were sitting on opposite ends of the fire, the former keeping a safe distance from the flames. They weren't looking at each other and I saw Frank look away resolutely when Hazel made a slight gesture of companionship. Next to Hazel, Liam sat, either obliviously unaware of the tension or completely ignoring it by focusing on his task: adding sticks to the fire.

A short distance away, where I'd seen him standing earlier, sat Leo, his back facing the others.

Liam wordlessly tossed me his bag when I reached them.

'Is she okay?' Hazel murmured quietly as I rooted around in Barbie Prime, looking for Annabeth's backpack.

'She's fine.' I answered, a tad shortly and then belatedly remembered that Hazel wasn't in the greatest of shapes either.

'How's the head?'

Hazel smiled faintly and shot a quick look to Frank but he was drawing lines in the ground, firmly ignoring both of us. Hazel sighed and pushed back her hair to show me her bruise. It was a bright, angry red and the size of a baby's fist.

'Quite a fashion statement.' I said and out of the corner of my eye I saw Frank grin at the ground, appreciating my joke. Clearly whatever was bothering him was between him and Hazel. I went back to the pack and after riffling through some stuff (what use did Annabeth have for a compass on a quest to save Nico?) I found the clothes. I grabbed the first shirt I saw and tossed the pack to Frank saying as I did:

'Could you…?'

He nodded, without waiting for me to finish. Clutching the shirt tightly, I gave the others a quick nod and hurried back the way I came.

I noticed Annabeth's eyes were closed when I reached and I panicked, thinking she'd fallen asleep. Before I did any real damage though, she opened her eyes.

'Got the shirt.' I gestured quite needlessly and she cocked an eyebrow in a very "no shit" way. I sighed and unfolded it, crouching down so that we were at the same eye-level.

'You're going to have to help me.' Annabeth said seriously and the change in her tone got rid of all the lingering feelings of embarrassment.

'Not a problem.' I told her instantly and had the gratification of seeing her smile. Albeit weakly.

It didn't turn out be much of a problem, the tricky part being not able to move Annabeth around much because of her wound. As I result I skipped about, trying out various combinations before her torn shirt came off and the new one got on. As it was, I still jolted her a bit and the cords in her neck stood out—a testament to her refusal to make a sound.

It was with a very relieved sigh that I finally got the last button done.

Feeling more than a little helpless, I crossed my legs and sat down in front of her. She didn't look up, choosing instead to close her eyes again as her breaths became shallower.

Remembering Liam's instructions, I tapped her knee. 'Let's talk.'

She barely stirred. 'What?'

I shifted closer, rearranged the bandages and the flask of nectar so that they were all close at hand and repeated, 'let's talk.'

She finally deigned to open her eyes and we stared at each other. I held her gaze evenly, determined to play my part even if it killed me to see the obvious pain in her eyes.

'Okay.' She said eventually, 'what do you want to talk about?'

I shrugged, 'I dunno. Life, maybe?'

Against all odds she cracked a grin. 'Life.' She repeated, chuckling very slightly to herself.

'Yeah.' I said, warming to my theme. 'What's up with yours?'

'Well…' she started slowly, 'it's not too good at the moment. Till a short while ago I had an arrow buried in me. And now, I have a poison slowly burning its way through my veins.'

I waved away her words, determined not to let her fixate on her chances of survival. That was my job. 'That's _now. _How about earlier?'

She did a great show of giving the question a lot of thought. 'Oh, absolutely fantastic. My boyfriend disappeared for six months.'

'That bastard.' I said, at once.

To my utter delight, she actually managed a full-fledged grin though it didn't stay up too long. 'Tell me about it. I'll kick his ass when I'm better.'

'You do that.' I said seriously and reached for her hand. Her fingers were cold but they gripped mine with surprising strength.

'Could I ask you something?' I said after a moment of silence, keeping my gaze on our interlocked hands.

'Sure?'

I waited, choosing my words carefully and then spoke, still keeping my gaze to the ground. 'Did you ever… you know, think I was dead?'

She didn't answer straight away and I looked up, suddenly afraid that she'd dropped off to sleep again. She was awake though and when I met her gaze, she flushed a little bit.

'I… I tried not to focus on you too much actually.'

I didn't say anything, knowing she wasn't done and wondered, not for the first time, if this was going to be our last conversation. Liam had no faith in his antidote and I didn't have the slightest idea to getting rid of poisons. Aside from magically teleporting Will Solace to the Outlands I didn't even have the faintest of ideas that might work.

I was out of options.

My insides froze and I pushed away the thought immediately. Entertaining doubts wasn't going to help at all. I just had to hope for the best. Thankfully, Annabeth spoke again, providing me a welcome distraction.

'After Jason got back from his quest, we had a goal: to build _The Argo II _and get to Camp Jupiter before the solstice. I knew you'd be somewhere about and for me, it made sense to concentrate on a task I could actually help with.'

She paused again and I watched with concern as her breathing grew irregular. In hindsight, making her talk about my disappearance was probably not the best of ideas.

Annabeth sighed and fixed her troubled eyes on mine. 'There were times though… when it was hard. Six months is a long time to live on hope.'

I watched the array of emotions of her face and felt more guilty than ever.

'I'm sorry.' I finally said when the silence grew till it was too much for me to bear.

'For what? It wasn't your fault.' She said tiredly and I felt her grip slacken a little in mine. As I reflex, I tightened my hold on her fingers.

'Yeah—but I just am. If I'd had the chance, I'd have protested quite strongly.'

She made to shrug but then thought better of it and settled for a grimace. 'Hera wouldn't have cared either way.'

I didn't have anything to reply with so I just continued watching her. I'd never actively thought about how much I liked Annabeth but with the prospect of losing her growing, I realized that somewhere along since last August, I'd made the transition from merely thinking of her as my girlfriend to something way more.

I wanted to tell her so many things, one of them being about the facilities New Rome provided but for unknown reasons, my mouth locked shut and the words remained unsaid.

'You're doing it again.'

I roused myself from my thoughts and blinked to find her grinning at me. Despite the smile, I noticed immediately that her skin had acquired a grey tinge to it. Her fingers were like cold ice-cream sticks in my hand.

Fear clawed its way up my throat and I forced it down. I couldn't afford to panic in front of her.

'Doing what again? I asked, once I managed to unlock my jaw and keep my "relaxed" expression intact.

'Furrowing your eyebrows.'

'And so?'

She shrugged and then winced immediately. I rubbed her hands, feeling completely useless. Once the spasm of pain had passed, she reached up with her finger and pushed at the shot between my eyebrows, above the bridge of my nose.

'You're cute when you're worried.'

She said, her eyes glittering with amusement. I smiled back dutifully while inwardly cursing my body for its inability to keep emotions off my face.

'I'm not worried.' I lied, knowing she wouldn't believe me but feeling the need to at least make an effort.

Sure enough, she rolled her eyes. 'Percy, seriously—'

'I'm not!' I cut her off. 'You're going to be _fine. _This—please, this is just a scratch!'

We locked gazes and I watched the decisions fly through her eyes. Would she argue with me or let it slide? Did she know how much I was struggling to keep it together?

'Okay…' She conceded eventually and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, '… but will you promise me one thing if I—'

'You're going to be fine!' I said fiercely, drowning out the rest of her words. She opened her mouth to argue but I cut her off, determined to keep her hopes (and mine) intact.

'No! Listen to me: You. Will. Be. _Fine._' I enunciated each world carefully and then continued in a rush, 'the antidote will cure the poison's effects and the nectar will stitch up the wound. You are _not _going to…' I trailed off, unable to finish because of the lump in my throat.

'…to die?' Annabeth finished quietly and I turned my head away so that I could blink back the sudden wetness in my eye. Her hand squeezed mine and I clung on resolutely to her fingers: her ice cold fingers.

'Percy…'

I blinked quickly and looked back at her, focusing on keeping my expression clam.

'…will you at least promise me one thing?'

I sighed. 'Annabeth you're going to be—'

'Say "fine" once more and I'm going to have to stab you.' She interrupted angrily and I grinned despite myself. She glared at me for a moment but then her expression dropped and she shuddered slightly. Unable to think of anything else to do, I went back to rubbing her hands.

A minute passed before she said anything. 'Okay, if things don't go according to plan…'

I opened my mouth to object but her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits and I shut up. Even with a body weakened by an unknown poison my girlfriend still managed to have that power over me. Go figure.

'… promise me you won't do anything to Leo.'

Abruptly, I felt angry and in an effort to stop myself from giving into my fear, I clung desperately to that anger. I wanted, no, I _needed _something to blame and Leo was the perfect excuse.

'How can you even _say _that to me?' I growled, not bothering to keep the venom out of my tone.

Annabeth shook her head, her expression sad. 'It wasn't his fault Percy; he lost control.'

'Yeah but if he'd _told _me that he could light himself on fire, we could've prevented this!' I exclaimed.

'How?' She shot back but I waved the question away.

'He should have told us. Or me at the very least. I even _asked _him—'

'He told me.' She said softly and I was so surprised I completely forgot about the rest of my sentence. 'He… what?'

'He told me. I knew about his… abilities.'

'Why…?' I fought to find the words to express my complicated feelings. 'Why didn't you _tell me_?'

'Because…' She said carefully, 'he asked me not to.'

'That's why you didn't mention it?' I asked disbelievingly and yes, a little angrily too. What other secrets was she keeping from me simply because someone had _asked_ her not to?

Annabeth sighed painfully and her grip slackened further. 'It's his secret Percy; I couldn't just give it away.'

That, for some reason, only made me angrier and I let go of her hand and stood up, barely controlling the urge to punch the something.

'Yeah well, _maybe _the fact that we're on a _quest _should've provided incentive for you to tell me! How am I supposed to trust someone with my life if they hide things from me?' I asked and I knew she'd picked up on the double meaning of the words right away.

'So according to you, everybody should just spill their souls to each other when they're on a quest?' Annabeth said angrily and I realized that for the first time, in a long time, her anger was directed at me. I took a shaky breath and answered her.

'When it's dangerous, then yes. How am I supposed to lead a quest when people are hiding things like that? How am I supposed to keep people _alive?_' I nearly spat the last word out because I hated it so much.

'I see.' She said simply. I waited but she didn't say anything else so I continued standing there, breathing heavily and feeling like a complete idiot.

'Annabeth—'

'What about Frank and Hazel?' She asked, ignoring whatever I'd started to say.

'I—_what?_'

She rolled her eyes. 'Frank and Hazel. You're telling me that _I _know everything there is to know about them?'

A very pointed silence followed her remark and I thought wildly for a justification. Coming up with none, I settled for a very lame, 'that's different.'

'Different?' Annabeth repeated rather scathingly and I winced at her tone. 'How is it _different _when Hazel seems to produce jewels –cursed ones at that– at a moment's notice and Frank is inexplicably afraid of fire?'

Since I had nothing to counter with, I looked to stall. 'How d'you know Frank's scared of fire?'

She snorted, witheringly. 'Please, Percy, I'm not _blind. _He barely got within three feet of it last night and even then he'd lean away.'

A little silence followed that and I reminded myself to never underestimate her again. If there was an "again." Eventually I said, 'it's different because I trust them.'

'And I trust Leo.' Annabeth countered, all the previous heat from her voice gone. 'Shouldn't that be enough for you?'

I looked away. Was it enough for me? Under any circumstances, it would have been. But Leo had been forced on to this quest for a reason; a reason which I had a very bad feeling about. What other secrets could he be keeping?

I looked back at Annabeth and found that she'd turned her face away. Even so I knew she was feeling pretty miserable. Through my very subtle silence I'd just told her that no, the fact that she trusted Leo wasn't enough for me. If she'd been able to move, she'd have walked away by now.

I sighed, feeling incredibly low. 'Look, if you want me to leave, just—'

'No!' She whipped around so fast that she winced and put a hand to her bandage. Worried, I took a step forward, 'are you okay?'

'I'm fine.' She waved away my concern. 'Just… don't go.'

I didn't need a second invitation and I closed the distance between us in record time and sat down next to her. She gripped the collar of my shirt and I tried not to flinch when her icicle fingers pressed against my skin. Carefully, I maneuvered around so that she could lean into me without hurting herself.

As I put my arms around her, it was with a sinking feeling that I realized that the grey tinge on her skin had darkened. I buried my face into her hair and shut my eyes, forcing down the lump in my throat.

Minutes passed but neither of us said anything.

There was nothing left to be said anyway.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: I'm sorry I took so long to update but I wanted to get this chapter right. Whether I've succeeded or not— well, you can tell me that.**

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><p><strong>24) I Get Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place<strong>

**Percy-IV**

I woke up with the taste of sandpaper in my mouth.

I blinked and swallowed, attempting to get rid of the cutting sensation. My brain slowly whirred to a start and I stretched, feeling like somebody had locked me into a box for a few hours and only just let me out.

My bones ached, my head hurt and skin felt dirt-filled. I yawned, turned over and suddenly something clicked into my head.

_I was not supposed to be sleeping. _

I jerked awake and then immediately regretted it; what if I'd jostled Annabeth as well? I glanced around worriedly and found myself a good two feet across her. How in the world had I managed to get _there? _

Annabeth, by the way, was fast asleep.

My body kicked into action and I was just about to shake her out of it when a piercing sound stopped me.

'_Psst!_'

I looked to my right and found Liam crouching down a few meters away, a glass of something steaming in his right hand. His left was held out in a very distinguished "stop" gesture. I rubbed my eyes and then glanced back and forth between him and Annabeth, confused.

Hadn't he told me a few hour ago—wait what time was it again? I blinked the gunk out of eyes while Liam continued making "come hither" gestures, coming perilously close to spilling whatever he had in his mug. With great difficulty I managed to sort out my thoughts and communicate to him that Annabeth wasn't supposed to be sleeping.

Liam simply rolled his eyes and gestured impatiently for me to join him.

I started at him indecisively but eventually the thought wandered into my head saying that if he didn't want me to wake Annabeth up, he must have a pretty good reason for it. I huffed and stood up, groaning internally when the various muscles screamed from the abuse I'd put them through the past day. My bruised shoulder in particular felt like somebody had gone at it with a branding iron and I regretfully concluded that I must have slept on it.

'How're you feeling?' Liam asked quietly once I reached him. He handed me the mug he was holding. It turned out to be filled with coffee.

'Like a road-roller just went over me.' I responded hoarsely and tucked the mug under my nose so the invigorating coffee fumes would clear my head. 'Also,' I continued after my throat had sorted itself out somewhat, 'I thought she wasn't supposed to sleep?'

Liam shrugged, 'yes that would have been the case if she were dying. Seeing as she's quite all right now, we need to let her body rest.'

It took about an age for the words to make their way into my head and when they finally did, it took another minute for me to sort through them. Almost immediately, my eyes snapped to my sleeping girlfriend as the first thought that went through my head was, "woah. She's breathing normally."

Unbidden, the memories of last night—or whenever I'd last been awake, swept through my mind and the familiar gut-wrenching feeling returned as I reviewed them. Despite all the bargains I'd made with the gods, Annabeth had only gone from bad to worse. Her body temperature had dropped alarmingly and her breathing had become erratic. In an effort to heat her up, I had wrapped every article of clothing that wasn't in use around her but to no avail.

Then she'd started shivering and it had all pretty much gone downhill from there. It had been a struggle to even make her say a few sentences and I'd grappled with the idea of pouring more nectar down her throat only to find that she was too weak to even swallow properly.

Whatever had happened last had not been good. They'd been in the same vein of death—so how in the world had Annabeth gone from being on her deathbed to seemingly okay?

'She's… she's, alive.' I said wonderingly and Liam's eyes crinkled in amusement.

'You clearly didn't have much faith in my antidote.'

'You didn't either!' I shot back struggling to make sense of my emotions, the most prominent of them being unparalleled joy, combined with a fierce desire to touch her and see for myself that I wasn't dreaming. At the same time, a deep suspicion lurked under the surface: her miraculous recovery wasn't the work of Liam's antidote; something else had happened, something else had intervened. The question was _what and why? _

And why did I have the feeling that this intervention hadn't been done for her or for me but to serve some higher purpose?

'Are you sure, she's out of the woods?' I asked, seeking reassurance that this wasn't some mad delusion I'd descended into.

'Positive.' Liam replied confidently. 'She's weak—very, very weak but she isn't dying today.'

'How in the world…?' I stopped, deciding quite arbitrarily to keep my musings to myself. Liam didn't need to know that I suspected something. What if he was in on it?

'Anyway,' the guide started once I showed no inclination of finishing my sentence, 'we need to talk about important things. So let's go back to the fire and give her some peace.'

I looked longingly at Annabeth's sleeping form. Couldn't I just have a few moments to let the knowledge of her survival sink in before I had to handle another problem?

'But…'

'Percy,' Liam interrupted flatly and in the back of my mind I noticed the peculiar way he said my name as though he was both unsure of me and yet in awe of me at the same time. It struck me as rather similar to how my dad said it.

'… Annabeth might not be dying today but that doesn't mean our issues are at an end.' His fixed his penetrating blue gaze on me, 'we're running out of time and options and you need to make a decision.'

I blew out my cheeks silently. Now what was I supposed to say to _that_?

* * *

><p>The campfire was deserted. The only thing around it which wasn't Outland rocks and dirt were the sleeping bags strewn around and Barbie Prime. A blackened kettle hung above the flames, supported by two sticks dug in on either side.<p>

'Where is everyone?' I asked, a frission of fear blooming inside me. Had something happened when I'd been asleep? Had someone else got hurt? I turned to look at Liam sharply; had he killed the others and was now planning on overpowering me as well?

'Relax,' Liam said once he caught my expression. 'They wanted to stretch their legs a bit and I told them not to wander too far.'

I didn't say anything though I took a surreptitious look around when he bent over the fire to lift off the kettle. There were no signs of a fight—no confused tracks, no broken belongings, no flecks of blood. Everything looked fairly normal: I mean as normal as once can get when stuck in the middle of nowhere with terrible lighting.

'You need to stop doing that.' Liam said conversationally as I took a sip of the coffee he'd given me earlier. The liquid was hot but it woke me up straight away. I felt my synapses wake from their slumber and everything around me rightened into sharper focus. The aftertaste struck me as a little odd: had he added something else to the coffee?

'Doing what?' I asked, taking deep breaths of air to cool the burning in my mouth a little.

'That,' Liam pointed with his free hand to my face. 'You're wondering right now if I've poisoned you.'

I stared at him.

'And before that,' the guide added, throwing in a couple of sticks into the fire, 'you wondered if I'd turned over the others to Gaia. Or killed them.'

I continued staring, not knowing what to say. Just to keep my hands busy I took another sip of the coffee and then immediately regretted it. What if I was ingesting more of the poison?

'So let me just get this out of the way,' Liam said straightening up, holding a mug as well, 'I get that you don't know anything about me. Till yesterday you didn't even know if I was on your side or not. I get that…'

With a tight smirk he took a rather pointed gulp of the liquid in his mug, '…but don't insult me by suspecting me after all this. If I wanted to kill you—or capture you, I'd have done it a long time ago.'

I raised my eyebrows, irked by his smart-ass comment. 'Really?'

'Yes.' He said crisply, 'I could've turned you over when I found you. I could've set you up as a nice little present for Minos …' His tone turned noticeably sharper and his eyes hardened, 'I could've have chosen _not _to fight the army that was tailing us and…' He took a deep breath and paused, waiting for the emphasis, 'I could've have refused to help your girlfriend.'

I swallowed involuntarily at his words and Liam's mouth set in a straight line.

'So don't look at me and wonder whose side I'm on Percy Jackson, not after I've proved my case quite thoroughly.'

I snorted and set the mug down on a convenient rock, determined to keep my hands free. I could feel the hostility in the air –his and mine, both– and if it came to a fight, I was quite ready to give it my best.

'D'you think I'm an _idiot_? The only reason you've helped is because of that damn Pearl which you want. Don't even attempt to lower my guard, 'cause it's not happening.'

A ghost of a smile flitted across Liam's face and his eyes narrowed. 'You think I'm going to sell you out once I get the Pearl?'

'And you aren't?' I challenged, 'you said so yourself last night.'

'What I _said _was that I had to manipulate you to get the Pearl because I wanted it. I never said _anything _about betraying you.' Liam snarled, making no attempt to hide the anger he so clearly felt.

'It was implied!' I shot back, feeling vaguely guilty. Almost immediately I shook it off: what the hell did _I_ have to feel guilty about?

'Just so we're clear,' Liam said, his tone terribly sarcastic, 'even after everything I've done, you're still trying to treat me like I'm your servant?' His tone grew even more mocking, 'I must say, you're _just _like your father.'

I would've launched myself at him had the kettle not let out a piercing whistle. As it was, I had to dig my heels in to stop myself. With barely restrained anger, I held out one shaking hand.

'Don't.' I said through gritted teeth, 'Ever. Say that again.'

I half expected him to repeat it anyway just to spite me but he didn't, instead he turned around and took a few steps away. I stood where I was, breathing hard, feeling like I'd just run a mile. I'd been through the wringer over the last day and more than anything I wanted to collapse, curl up into a ball and go to sleep.

But I couldn't. I wasn't even close to getting hold of Nico and time was ticking away.

With great effort, I adopted a neutral tone. 'You mentioned some problems earlier. What are they?'

Liam took a while answering and made a great show of sipping his coffee. I ignored his antics, refusing him to let me rile me up and waited. I didn't have the time or inclination to play his juvenile games. Eventually he swallowed and waved a hand theatrically.

'Movement. How d'you expect your girlfriend to keep up with us?'

'Walk like the rest of us?' I said, just for the heck of saying it. I knew what he was driving at and already I was beginning to feel twinges of anxiety. How was Annabeth going to keep up? Liam would undoubtedly drive us at a ruthless pace, and she'd only _just _recovered. _If_ she'd recovered. I hadn't even checked up on that yet.

Liam gave me his trademark weary look. 'You and I both know that's not happening.'

I narrowed my eyes. 'What d'you want to do? Leave her behind?'

A hint of a smirk appeared on his face. 'Don't be an idiot.'

I threw my hands up, frustrated by his quicksilver moods and his general helpfulness. 'Then what?'

Liam took another thirty seconds to methodically take a sip of his coffee, swirl it around in his mouth and swallow it. I rolled my eyes and started a timer off in my head. Five minutes and then I was going to go check on Annabeth, no matter what he said.

'I may have a solution to the problem.' The guide finally said, delicately wiping his lips.

'You—what?' I repeated, too surprised to sound annoyed by his childish behavior.

'A plan. Or two actually but we'll come to that later.' He clarified.

'You have a plan to get us out of this mess?' I said, still rather incredulous over what I was hearing. As expected Liam rolled his eyes. I didn't bother reacting; I was far too happy to actually care.

'Yes. When you finish processing that, I'll outline it for you.'

I grinned which surprised him but after a second, he grinned too and it felt a little like the moment we'd shared last night, except on the lighter side.

'So, what've you thought of?' I said eventually after our little idiotic grinning moment was over. Liam pursed his lips and shot me a vaguely calculating look.

'You're not going to like it but trust me when I say it's our best chance.'

It suddenly struck me that hadn't been the first time he'd said "our" but it was definitely the first time I'd actually noticed. Suddenly, the half-formed suspicions I had of him seemed ridiculous. Sure, he may have only been doing it for the Pearl but at least he was really committed to the cause of keeping us alive.

'What is it?'

Liam took a sip of coffee. 'We split up. Three go on and three go back.'

The words had barely reached my ears when I said, 'no.'

He didn't look surprised in the least but followed through with the expected question anyway. 'Why not?'

'I—just… no. We're not doing that.' I said, not quite comfortable with explaining my reasons to Liam.

'You haven't even heard who all constitute the two groups.' He protested and I didn't say anything. I _knew _of course which group I was in and it was obvious which group Annabeth would be in and that was what was making me say no. She'd _barely _made out since the last time we'd been attacked. Who was to say she wouldn't get attacked again? I wouldn't be around and that's what made it all the more worse:

_What if she died this time?_

'Frank, Hazel and Annabeth go back,' Liam continued when the silence between us stretched 'and you, me and Valdez go on Nico's prison.'

I raised my eyebrows, my suspicious returning with full force when I heard the odd detail. 'Why is Leo part of the onwards group?'

If Liam heard the change in tone, he didn't call me on it and merely answered, 'Valdez mentioned that his father wanted him to accompany you.'

I snorted, feeling the urge to say that _wanted _was far too light a word to be used for what Heph—Vulcan had said but I focused instead on the part of the plan which was bothering me the most.

'And what if we get attacked? How d'you expect the other three to hold off an army? In case you didn't notice, Annabth is _injured._'

Liam shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. 'Maybe they won't go after them. Maybe they'll only come after us because we're the threat.'

'You're basing the safety of my _friends _on a "maybe?' I growled and just like that my anger was back with full-force. Was he _insane? _Did he seriously expect me send three people –of which two who didn't even count as _experienced _fighters and one who was injured– off on their own to navigate the Outlands _and _the Underworld without getting caught by the tons of people looking for them?

Liam shifted uncomfortably but he too scowled. 'You have a better plan then?'

'This isn't a _plan. _It's suicide.' I objected.

It was clearly the wrong thing to say because Liam's eyes turned into crystals and his face hardened along familiar lines. 'You're willing to throw away your quest for one _girl?_'

The contempt in his tone was unmistakable.

'Not one girl,' I countered swiftly, 'three very good friends.'

He snorted, unimpressed by argument and took a huge gulp of his coffee. I sighed, knowing that the ball was now in my court. He'd just given me his best option and I was turning it down. If I knew anything about the guide –and surprisingly I did, given our earlier argument– he was going to wait in silence till I did something. So I did what was natural: I latched on to a technicality.

'You said you had two plans. What's the other one?'

Liam grimaced and looked away, clearly not expecting the direction of which the discussion was going. His eyes flitted away from mine and rested for a moment on the fire. It took me a moment to realize it but when I did it shocked me: he looked _scared. _

'The other one isn't a plan. It's suicide.' He said roughly, ruining the effect of throwing my own words back at me. Intrigued by his behavior, I refused to be dissuaded.

'Let's hear it at least.'

Liam gritted his teeth and gripped his coffee mug so tightly that the tips of his fingers went white. I said nothing else and simply waited. After a lot of sighing and huffing, he drained the last of his coffee and set the mug down with a _thud. _

'Have you ever heard of Hephaestus Way?'

'Have I heard of—_what?' _I asked, completely thrown by the question. Of all the things I'd been expecting him to say, this was nowhere near it.

'Hephaestus Way.' He repeated and it was only because I was listening so intently and watching his every move that I caught the slight tremble in his voice.

'No I haven't. What is it?' I asked, my curiosity peaking.

Liam sighed and scooped up a handful of gravel from the ground. He leaned back on the ledge he was sitting on and fixed his expression at a point somewhere a foot above my head. I took his posture as a cue for story- time so I made myself comfortable on my stony perch.

'When Zeus threw Hephaestus from Mount Olympus,' the guide began in a fairly bitter voice, 'he fell a long way down.'

'Who he?' I interjected immediately.

'What?' Liam asked, irritably.

'You didn't specify who fell a long way down.' I explained.

He fixed me with stare. 'Who do you _think_ I meant?'

'I know who you _meant,' _I shot back, 'but you have to be specific. I don't want to misunderstand anything.'

Liam muttered something which sounded like, "you don't have enough brain cells to understand anything, let alone misunderstand anything!" but I let it slide. It was important right now. Maybe later, when this damn quest was over and done with but not now.

'Anyway,' He began again once he finished with his mumbling, 'when Hephaestus fell down he—well, he fell a _long_ way down.'

'I know that.' I said, confused as to where he was going with the story. Liam shot me a "shut up or I'll hit you" look.

'He fell so far that legend has it that he—'

'I'm sorry, what?' I interrupted again, not quite believing my ears.

'What, now?' Liam asked, thoroughly exasperated.

'Legend has it..?' I repeated incredulously, 'this _is _legend. Greek gods and everything. All of it is legend.'

He shrugged, 'I fail to see your point.'

'You're talking about a legend within a legend?' I said, persisting in my efforts to explain to him what I had a problem with, 'that's like—'

'D'you want to know what the second plan is or not?' Liam interrupted fiercely.

Intimidated, I nodded. 'Yeah, sorry. Go on.'

He blew out his cheeks and shot me another annoyed glance before resuming his tale. 'He fell so far down that some say…' He narrowed his eyes pointedly when I opened my mouth again so I shut up and let him finish, 'some say that he fell through the Underworld.'

Slowly, I felt the trickles of understanding flow into me.

'They say that when he fell, his form was so hot that he burned his way through the earth and the rock—that he melted out a passage before falling into the sea and cooling his fires.' Liam's tone was half bitter and half admiring.

'And this passage…' I said carefully.

'… is known as Hephaestus Way.' Liam nodded and tossed a stone into a ditch nearby.

'So what's so dangerous about Hephaestus Way?' I asked, still not able to understand why the guide was so deathly afraid of it.

Right on cue, a barely contained shiver passed through Liam's frame. He threw another stone into the ditch, his expression brooding. 'They say that when Hephaestus fell, he felt terrible, terrible pain. And not the physical kind; he couldn't understand why his own father didn't want him. Why his father _hated _him so much.'

Liam paused and it seemed like an echo of Hephaestus' cries echoed between us. The guide's face was a bitter mask. When he spoke next, he spoke with such intensity that I couldn't tell if he was perhaps, not only recounting Hephaestus' story.

'They say that this tunnel—or passage, if you will, embodies those feelings. Those feelings of hurt and unwantedness. Those feelings of betrayal.' His voice caught on the last word but he cleared his throat and continued.

'The passage makes it ten times worse that it can drive you mad with hatred. They say that it's easy to lose your way in there.' Liam paused and his eyes shone with barely restrained fire, 'they say it's easy to lose your _soul_ in there.'

In the silence that followed, only the fire crackled merrily. Liam looked like a ghost and I certainly felt my spirits fall a little.

'What I don't get is that how Hephaestus Way can help us.' I said eventually, 'you're saying that it can take us straight to Nico's prison?'

Liam shook his head and tossed another stone with unerring aim. It hit the other two and split them apart, raising two little puffs of dirt and dust. 'No, have you heard of the Labyrinth?'

Relieved to have finally come across a bit of mythology I knew, I laughed. 'Heard of it? I've _been _in it!'

Liam looked up and I could see reluctant admiration in his eyes. 'And you survived? Impressive.'

Feeling a little embarrassed, I shrugged. 'I wasn't alone.'

He regarded me for another moment, 'how did you navigate through it? Ariadne's string?'

I shook my head, 'no. I have a friend—a mortal. She's clear-sighted.'

Liam nodded understandingly. 'I see. Well, Hephaestus Way works much the same way. It can take you places; take you wherever you want to go really. As long as you navigate it properly.'

I gulped. 'And if you don't?'

Liam's expression grew, if possible, more foreboding. 'Then you get lost. And then you die. Few who've entered the passage without navigation have survived.' He paused and then added, 'survived with their minds.'

'But there _is _a way to navigate it.' I persisted, refusing to show that I was daunted by the prospect of entering something worse than the Labyrinth. 'What do we need, a clear-sighted mortal?'

Liam snorted. 'If it were only that easy.'

'Then?'

He threw a stone into the fire, sending up a shower of multi-colored sparks. 'The passage embodies everything about rejection. About being the cast out child. The only way to _beat _it, so to speak is to have the exact opposite of it.'

I frowned. 'I don't understand.'

Liam sighed, 'they say only a favoured child of Hephaestus can navigate it.' He paused, waiting for the gears to begin clicking in my head and then continued, 'a child marked in a special way. A child whose father _cannot _be mistaken. A child _loved_ by his father.'

I stared at him, horrified. 'Oh gods.'

Evidently glad I'd caught on; he the rest of the stones away and stood up. 'Yes and it so happens we have one of them right here with us.'

'You cannot be serious!' I exclaimed, also getting to my feet. 'How much of a coincidence is that?'

Liam fixed me with his trademark stare. 'It isn't, obviously.'

It was of course, that obvious. How could I have been so _blind? _In mind's eye I saw Vulcan's flaming head grinning at me nastily.

_Don't worry Jackson; he'll be useful. Far more than you realize… _

The god had known that we'd need to use Hephaestus Way at some point and so he'd insisted that Leo had to come along. But how had he known? And why had helped in the first place? Surely he didn't wasn't rooting for me that much that he'd send his own kid along on a dangerous quest.

'We're missing something. I said and then realized I was thinking out loud. Liam nodded, taking the kettle off its amateur supports.

'Yes. The gods clearly have something planned for you.'

'What d'you mean?' I asked, surprised by that particular conclusion.

Liam rolled his eyes but then gave up halfway as though I wasn't even worth that much. 'Why else would he take such an interest in you? Why would he send his son –his only son in four hundred _years _to have fire abilities by the way– with you?'

I didn't say anything since I'd just been unpleasantly reminded of yet another fact. Gaia had mentioned taking a special interest in me as well—to use me for something. That was two immortals so far: what the hell were they up to and why was I so important?

I shook my head, trying to clear it. I had bigger problems now.

'So Leo can take us through Hephaestus Way without a problem? Without erm.. any soul losing and stuff like that?' I asked, hoping my tone was jocular enough.

Liam snorted, 'you wish.'

Annoyed, I held out an accusing finger, 'But you _just _said—'

'I said that it's part of the legend.' Liam interrupted calmly. 'Whether Valdez _can _navigate it is entirely up to him. He's special, yes but that isn't enough.'

Seeing my dumbfounded expression, the guide heaved a sigh and continued. 'The tunnel is a few millennia old. Its _spirit _is old. And for all this while, it's been festering. Growing stronger by taking the mind's, if not lives of people who enter it. Can Valdez control it? Tame it to take it where _he_ wants to go—that's not an easily answered question.'

'So it all depends on him.' I said miserably.

'Yes.' Liam said, suddenly serious. 'If he succeeds, then the passage will take him wherever he wants to go.'

'And if he doesn't?' I asked, hating the question even as I said it.

Liam's mouth was a thin line. 'Best case scenario? We die quickly. Worst case—we get lost. Then we starve to death.'

'Brilliant.' I grumbled and purely for the heck of it, kicked a pebble so that it flew and knocked over one of the sticks in the ground.

Liam shrugged, 'I did say plan number two is suicide.'

I didn't answer and forced myself to think things through. Either I could split us up or I could keep us together. If we split up there was no guarantee both groups would make it out alive. Hell, there was no guarantee that even one group would make it out alive. But two groups meant two targets, which meant divided forces.

Liam could be right; they could also ignore the others and only come after us because we posed a threat.

Then again they could go after both and easily overpower at least one. Frank and Hazel were good fighters but they'd been doing it for less than a year. Annabeth was weak. She'd barely be able to walk very far, let alone win a fight.

If I kept us together, everything depended on Leo. The passage would only respond to him. If he led us over a cliff—we'd all die. If he got lost, we'd all die. Liam had said that Hephaestus Way was like the Labyrinth which meant Leo could take so much as a wrong step and we'd all die.

Then again, if he succeeded, we'd survive. And cut our journey down immensely.

Pick a fifty-fifty or pick a hundred-zero. Those were my chances.

I knew what Annabeth would do of course. She'd pick the first option. It was logical, keeping in mind the quest and the extra numbers. She'd see herself as a dead weight and support cutting herself out.

I couldn't do that.

And I knew if I went back and told her about it, she'd force me to choose option number one and if I didn't, she'd probably steal Liam's map and set off on her own.

I glanced at Liam who he was watching me with barely restrained fear. Whatever he'd said about "legend" and "they say" had been crap. Or well some of it anyway. He'd _been _inside Hephaestus Way. What he'd been doing in there was beyond me but he'd definitely been there and he'd barely escaped with his life.

He didn't want me to choose option two. He didn't want to go back and his expression suddenly reminded me of Chris Rodriguez's the few times the latter had talked about the Labyrinth. Liam was _terrified _even though he wasn't showing it.

He'd come along of course even if I chose Hephaestus Way; I knew that much. Something told me that he was willing to risk everything for that Pearl Annabeth had but at the same time he wouldn't be doing the guiding.

Leo would.

Leo who hadn't mentioned his fire abilities.

Leo who had a mysterious backpack.

Leo: a person I'd known for barely a day.

I ran my hands through my hair and fixed Liam with a decided look. He gazed back at me, doing a very good job of appearing indifferent. At the same time, Annabeth's wan face flashed before my eyes.

My jaw tightened.

'I know what I want to do.'


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: I should be shot for taking so long. That being said, I must inform you that this chapter has been in the works for a while but as it got longer, I wrestled with it until I finally decided to split the damn thing. **

**At this rate this story's going to go up to 40 chapters. Oh well.**

**Reviewers, thanks for sticking around. **

* * *

><p><strong>25) Because Discussing My Lineage Is My Favorite Hobby.<strong>

**Leo- I**

Percy found me lying down between two perfectly formed jagged rocks which looked like teeth sprouting up from the ground. I'd chosen the spot not only because it wasn't too far away from the campfire but because if someone didn't deliberately come looking for it, they'd never find it. In that regard I suppose Liam must have pointed Percy in the right direction.

'What're you doing?' Percy asked, standing over me and regarding me with a fairly puzzled frown.

'Hiding.' I answered honestly. I'd found the spot soon after Liam had mentioned that we'd be stopping for a while to give the antidote a chance to work. That had been three hours ago and it was now ten-thirty in the morning; not that the surroundings gave any indication to the time. If anything, the atmosphere had simply darkened.

'From whom?' Percy wanted to know, taking his time to choose a place to sit down.

'Frank and Hazel…' I hesitated and then added, 'you.'

He nodded, obviously expecting that and took a quick glance at me. I figured I must have looked like a hobo—or worse. My clothes smelt strongly of soot from my earlier… experience and because of all the tunneling we'd been doing, the dirt caked all over me felt like a second skin. I certainly _felt_ like crap but that didn't have anything to do with what I looked like.

'How's Annabeth?' I asked, once it became clear that Percy wasn't actually looking for an inane conversation. My stomach clenched as I waited for the answer even though I tried convincing myself to not be too worried. If Percy had actually deigned to leave her side it meant only two things: either she was alive and well or she was dead.

I sincerely hoped it wasn't the second one.

'Surviving.' Percy answered after a pregnant pause.

I didn't know what to say to that so I simply nodded. Inside however, I was a royal mess of conflicting emotions; guilt being the most prominent followed by a healthy amount of anger, directed towards my father of course.

The wily god hadn't thought it proper to mention that I was going to lose control and go up in flames when I'd visited him in my dream. It wasn't like he hadn't known because I'd suddenly remembered looking at me guardedly, just after he'd thrown me from my chair.

_I forget to control myself sometimes… you get that from me I suppose. _

Havens forbid just telling me: _Hey Leo, you're going to go up in flames soon. Try not to be around anyone when that happens. _

'That's why I'm here actually.' Percy broke into my thoughts and his tone didn't sound very encouraging.

I steeled myself, I'd been expecting this. 'Look, you have _no _idea how guilty I feel: Annabeth's a friend of mine too and I swear to the gods, I thought I had it under control—'

'That's not what I'm talking about.' Percy interrupted quietly and even though I wasn't even halfway through my explanation, I shut up. His voice just had that kind of quality to it.

'What I want to know..' He went on, 'is why you didn't mention having this… ability. I _distinctly _remember asking you if you had anything to tell me.'

'I—we'd decided not to.' I said lamely.

Percy didn't say anything and kept a steady gaze on me.

'Look…' I attempted again, 'it's complicated.'

'Complicated.' He repeated and I finally heard a little bit of the anger he must have felt resonating through the words, 'Annabeth _nearly _died and you're brilliant explanation is "complicated."'

'Look, man, I said I'm sorry—'

'What my problem is Leo,' Percy cut me off again, 'is that I don't know if I can trust you.'

I felt like he'd punched me in the gut; I could barely breathe. Suddenly, fears that he'd found out what I'd been up to began to invade my head. Had he figured out why my father had sent me on this quest?

'You _can_ trust me.' I said shakily and the words left a bitter feeling in my mouth.

'Really?'

His green eyes seemed to bore into mine and I felt my dirty little secret come bubbling up my throat: how those automatons that had nearly killed him was because of me, how I'd attempted to get us captured by King Minos, how even now I was thinking of ways to fulfill my father's orders.

But I didn't say anything.

Not a word.

'This quest…' Percy said, into the tense silence, 'has been dangerous. It's been tricky and the _only _reason we've survived so far is because the enemy hasn't tried hard enough.' He narrowed his eyes at me, 'do you understand that?'

I nodded mutely, too afraid to open my mouth in case I blurted out the wrong thing.

'As we approach Nico, it's only going to get worse.' His expression turned grim and the worry lines on his forehead stood out. He shouldn't have had those lines in the first place; he was, what, barely seventeen?

Then I remembered all the stories I'd heard about him at camp: he'd been through a war and now he was going to join another one. This guy had taken more tough decisions than the Presidents of some countries.

'I'm not going to risk the lives of Frank and Hazel and Annabeth,' Percy's voice caught on his girlfriend's name but he pretended it to be a cough by clearing his throat, 'because of things you're hiding.'

He paused and made sure he held my gaze before continuing, 'so I'm gonna ask you _again _Leo; do you have anything to tell me? Anything at all?'

For one moment I nearly caved and told him. I was so badly in need of a friend and Percy, for his part, had been incredibly cool about the whole situation (he hadn't even punched me) that I knew I could tell him and he wouldn't judge me. He would understand and fix it. He was exactly like Jason in that sense.

But then my father's words came ringing back to me. I _had_ to deliver them to Gaia: it was for their own good. I didn't know how or why it was necessary but I was quite prepared to believe that it was of utmost importance.

My father hadn't shown interest in me for fifteen years and now suddenly he was visiting me in consecutive dreams: obviously it needed to be done.

And now I finally understood why it was to be me. Percy trusted Annabeth and Hazel and Frank because he'd worked with them before. He'd been in life and death situations with them before and they'd come through for would be unimaginable for them to betray him.

But me, who was I? Leo Valdez, mechanic extraordinaire and the demigod version of the Human Torch… it would be easy for Gaia to believe if I betrayed them, for the simple fact that I was the odd piece of the puzzle. I was the alienated one and now because of recent events, I was the untrustworthy one.

I saw glimpses of my father's plan now. He'd staged the entire thing, even the bulky backpack which I was now sure had only been designed to raise suspicion. The more the others wondered what I was up to, the more Gaia would believe that I was on her side.

Mentally stealing myself I said, 'Well, I do like the color yellow.'

I half-expected Percy to finally give in to his urge and lay one on me but instead he cracked a grin. 'So you're in then? No more secrets?'

'None whatsoever.' I managed weakly and even held out my fist for a bump which he (surprisingly) gave me.

'Good.' He said, his tone changing completely, 'because I'm in dire need of your help.'

* * *

><p>I wanted to hit something.<p>

Or well, I wanted to hit Hephaestus.

I wanted to get hold of those nasty studs soccer players wear, strap them on and jump up and down on my father's godly essence. Really the guy had to be _kidding _me.

Maybe in my bravado of accepting the terrible task I'd been given I'd believed that I could get us all captured in a totally non self-damaging way.

I'd screw up discreetly, blame it all on luck and then, when they managed to save Nico and escape, pretend I hadn't been working against them all along. Or that had been the plan anyway.

But this… this Hephaestus Way was a whole different story.

I actually had to _deliver _them to Gaia like I was some erratic Pizza Boy who'd gotten sidetracked during his route. I had to take these people –these friends of mine– and toss them to the wolves.

Or Sleeping Dirt Woman.

Labels, I tell you.

I heaved a great sigh and kicked the nearest pebble into the sheer wall of stone in front of me.

'Are you quite all right?'

I whirled around, startled to find Hazel standing a few feet away. She was gazing at me rather worriedly, her bottom lip scrunched up in a rather endearing gesture.

I nodded miserably, 'fine.'

She took a few steps forward but then thought better of it and retreated again, maintaining a respectful distance between us. I couldn't blame her really. The last time we'd been next to each other, I'd gone up in flames and she'd been on the verge of getting trampled.

At least she was trying to be cordial. Frank had treated me like I was patient Zero of a wildly contagious disease. He'd refused to even look in my direction during the few minutes Liam had made camp.

'I guess it's difficult to work out?' Hazel attempted again, nodding in the direction of the slate wall behind me. I sighed mournfully: if only she knew.

After Percy had convinced me take on the responsibility of leading the group through Hephaestus Way, Liam had shown up and walked me to the wall I was currently facing. In hushed tones he'd mentioned how it was one of the few entrances that didn't shift around and where we could hopefully begin our journey.

_If_ I could figure out how to open the door, that is. The latter part Liam had thrown at me almost casually though I could hear the underlying hopefulness in his tone. For whatever reasons, the guide was hoping for me to fail.

What Liam didn't understand was that I figured out to activate the entrance within minutes: the same way I'd operated Bunker Nine.

What he also didn't understand was that his concerns about Hephaestus Way was entirely misplaced. My father wanted to keep us safe; if only to send us to Gaia in mint condition.

I gritted my teeth and turned away from Hazel. What was I doing really? If whatever Liam had said about the tunnel was true then I could get everyone to Nico's prison without a problem.

I could forget entirely about this whole Gaia business. Getting them captured was one thing, actually handing them over to Gaia was quite another. And what would happen to me after I completed the transaction? What if Gaia didn't buy my story of changing sides and tossed me into the dungeons as well?

What dangerous game had my father gotten me into?

I thought of Hera and imagined her cold, "mother knows best" smile. Was this what my true destiny was? To be a pawn in the grand scheme of things where the gods might not actually be on the right side?

'You figured it out then?'

Liam's rough voice broke into my thoughts and I looked back to find the guide only a few meters from Hazel. His blue eyes stared at me intently and for reasons unknown I looked away. Something about his gaze bothered me as though he was secretly asking me about the real choice I had to make.

My eyes wandered and fell on Frank who promptly looked away from me. Percy and Annabeth were just rounding the corner; the latter, by the looks of things, trying to shrug the former's supporting hand off.

'Yeah.' I said carefully, glancing back at Liam. 'I know what to do.'

'Then what're we waiting for? Let's do this.' Percy said and my gaze went passed his and touched Annabth's for a moment. Guilt boiled hot in my stomach when I took in her sickly appearance.

I was so used to her being strong, being the leader, that the reversal of roles and the enormity of what I'd chosen made me feel hollow. To make matters worse, she smiled encouragingly.

I looked away hurriedly.

Crunch time: betray my friends and hope that it'll all work out according to my father's plan or lead them correctly and risk my father's wrath. Especially in a tunnel of his making?

'C'mon then.' I said bitterly, raising my hand to place on the smooth wall in front of me. 'Follow me and mind your step.'

* * *

><p>'Just a question..' Frank's strained voice broke the tense silence which had descended on us since we'd entered Hephaestus Way, 'but how long have we been inside?'<p>

Behind me, Liam shifted around and I swung around to shine my flashlight so that he could look at his watch.

'A little more than thirty minutes.' Liam announced once his eyes adjusted to the sudden intensity of light shining on his face.

The others let loose disbelieving noises and I knew why it was so hard for them to comprehend that we'd only been in the dank, wet and above all, inhospitable passageway for only half an hour because it had certainly seemed like much more.

Progress had been.. well, progress had been progressable. If that was even a word. There wasn't any other way to describe it really. We hadn't made any discernible accomplishment from starting out.

In fact, the tunnel itself was rather tunnel-like: no traps, no creatures waiting. Just that oppressive feeling of earth pressing down from all sides and the unidentifiable smell which could have just possibly been me.

The only thing out of the ordinary was the slight breeze I felt on my face from time to time.

I also had a weird, sickening feeling in my stomach as though I was on the verge of throwing up.

I didn't know if the others felt it too but by their barely disguised discomfort, something was definitely bothering them. Maybe it was just the sensation of being closeted so close together.

That and the sense that something was lying in ahead of us, in the darkness.

Watching.

Waiting.

Deciding.

Percy sneezed and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Liam's steadying hand stopped me from bumping my head against the curved walls on either side of me.

'C'mon, Valdez,' He chided derisively, 'concentrate.'

His comment, by the way, had been a recurring theme and the only words spoken during our entire thirty minute (except it felt like longer) walk. According to him I had to feel _loved _by my father for Hephaestus Way to respond to me.

When I protested that I could only feel "loved by my father" if my father actually deigned to "love me," he'd merely snorted and told me to think of my fire abilities and remember that it was a _gift_.

That didn't go down too well with the rest of the group. I wonder why.

Annoyed, I shrugged his hand of my shoulder. 'I _am_ concentrating. We've come this far haven't we?'

He didn't reply and I squared my shoulders and swung the flashlight around. The light disappeared off into the darkness waiting in front of me. I gulped and only just managed to stop myself from backing up.

The only thing that helped was the thought that Liam wouldn't let me live it down so I blew out my cheeks and set the pace again.

I should also probably mention that I didn't have the slightest of ideas as to where I was heading.

Oh sure I'd fixed the thought "_take me to Gaia" _in my head but ever so often I'd waver and guilt would wash through me. It was like both decisions were waging a permanent battle inside me and every time one of them won, I'd change my mind.

It was most frustrating.

The others shuffled after me, completely silent except for their occasional sighs and sounds of breathing. The surroundings were silent too and aside from the movement we caused, everything else was still. There were no other inhabitants of the tunnel—no ants, no rats.

Nothing.

It was almost as though we were walking through a graveyard.

I pushed the thought from my head hurriedly and tried my best to keep the "take me to Gaia" thought as commanding as possible. Yes, I was attempting to talk to a tunnel with my head. No, I didn't think it was even a little creepy.

_Take me to Gaia! _

I tried to imagine a big ticker with the words on it in floating in front of my eyes.

_As Hephaestus' kid, I demand to be taken to Gaia._

A slight rumbling sound echoed distantly and for a moment I wondered if that had just been a product of my over enthusiastic imagination.

Or maybe my brain had finally decided to call it a day. I wouldn't have blamed it; I'd had less than five hours of sleep and only a mug of coffee for breakfast.

_I'm a favored child of Hephaestus so take me to Gaia. _

I rethought the words and then added:

_Please. _

A sudden gust of air blew through the tunnel and whipped my hair and clothes around frenziedly. The dust it brought along stung my eyes and clogged up my throat before I got a sleeve up to protect my face.

Behind me, the others were caught equally unaware and they all cursed fluently, so much so that for the next minute I heard a mix of words from three distinct languages.

Then just as suddenly, the wind died down and the dust settled on to my clothes.

'What was that?' Percy asked once he'd finished coughing.

'I... don't know.' I answered honestly and then because I didn't know what to do, I sent a "sorry" up to the tunnel. I heard Frank mutter inaudibly and felt the collective unease brewing behind me.

'It's probably just…' The words died away from my lips when all at once I felt something shift a few meters ahead of me.

I closed my eyes, concentrating, and in my mind's eye I could see a scene forming and solidifying. Little details kept interrupting but I knew without a doubt what the whole image was.

The queasy feeling in my stomach intensified.

'Guys..' I restarted, once I got my throat to work again, 'don't panic.'

Which in hindsight wasn't the smartest thing to say because they started shifting around and raising questions like, "why? What happened?'

Ignoring them, I shuffled forward, keeping the flashlight trained to the ground even though I didn't need it. I was very aware of everything in front of me and for the first time since entering I could feel a connection with the tunnel.

It was literally showing me what to expect so when I stepped out into a cavern the size of a football stadium, with a roof some ten stories above my head, I wasn't too surprised.

Which can't be said for the others.

'What in the world..?' Liam breathed, his head tilting backwards to take everything in. Huge stalactites hung from the ceiling, water dripping off them and collecting to make stalagmites on the floor. Light shone weakly from a single window sized hole, all the way up in the ceiling.

A few feet ahead of us, the ground dropped away completely and when I neared the edge, I couldn't see the floor. There was just a vast emptiness filled with the sounds of water and painted the blackest of blacks.

About a mile across was the other side, looking equally forbidding. And across the giant crater with no bottom, connecting both the sides, was a thin little rocky ledge which didn't look as though it could support a feather's weight, let alone six teenagers.

'This looks promising.' Frank muttered mutinously and strode past me to kick a pebble into the crater. The pebble skipped into the air, hit the edge and vanished from sight, the sounds of its descent receding as it fell farther and farther.

Ten seconds later, we couldn't hear anything—let alone a crash to indicate it had reached the bottom.

'I'm not walking across that.' Frank declared and strode away.

Annoyed by his attitude I turned to him, 'perhaps your solution is to _fly _to the other side?'

He glanced at me darkly and for a moment he seemed like he was actually considering my suggestion. Then his gaze shifted to Hazel and his forehead creased making the anger melt away.

She didn't notice; she was too busy peering over the side with a flashlight, hoping to find the bottom.

'Maybe there's a way around this?' Annabeth's tired voice broke the tense silence.

Simultaneously we all turned around to look back at the way we came but there was no sign of the tunnel by which we'd entered the huge cavern.

It had simply vanished into the rocks. While the others uttered sounds of dismay, I felt a sudden feeling of dread in my stomach.

'There's no way around..' I spoke shakily and paused when their gazes moved to me, '… because this is the only way. It's a test.'

Of all of them, only Liam looked the least surprised by my announcement. His glance caught mine and he gave me an imperceptible nod, obviously agreeing with my conclusion.

'So we _have _to take that route?' Percy jerked his thumb in the direction of the narrow ledge spanning over the vast infinite space in between the two sides. 'Will it even hold?'

I had no idea how to answer that but thankfully Liam stepped in.

'It'll hold..' He said gravelly and then glanced at me, 'but only if you _want _it to.'

'Why would _I _want us dropped to the bottom?' I protested, feeling the familiar stirrings of guilt wash through me. I pushed them aside hastily; I might be selling the others out to Gaia out but I didn't want them killed!

'That's not what I meant.' Liam shook his head.

'Then?'

I could see him choosing his words carefully and that only made me feel worse.

'You need to _want_ it enough.' Liam finally said, evidently not finding the words he was looking for, 'you need to _believe _that it'll hold. The slightest hesitation… the slightest _doubt,' _his eyes darkened, 'and we'll go to the bottom.'

'If there even _is _one.' Frank muttered and one by one I felt the weight of the expectations settle on me. Unable to find a safe place to look, I let my gaze drift to the impossibly thin path which was to be our salvation.

I blinked and craned my neck to see a bunch of steps cut into the huge wall which rose up from the other bank. As much as I strained my eyes I couldn't see where they originated from.

'Leo, you don't have to do this.' Annabeth's surprisingly gentle voice broke into my thoughts, startling me. I glanced at her and immediately saw that even the easy pace we'd been walking at had taken a toll on her.

Her right hand was, very subtly, gripping her side in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

Percy stood a few paces behind her, his arm stretched out but not quite touching Annabeth. By his pained expression I figured he'd been told rather pointedly to not even bother offering his help unless he wanted to lose a hand.

I could even imagine Annabeth's expression as she said it.

I glanced again at Percy, and found his green eyes boring into mine. His face was expressionless but his eyes said it all; I definitely _had _to do this.

I blew out my cheeks and tried to gather my thoughts: how hard could it be to will a bridge into letting us walk all over it? Maybe if I distracted it with a few subliminal jokes, it'd be helpful.

'You have to remember who you are.' Liam muttered, sidling over to me.

I raised my eyebrow, 'excuse me?'

'You have to remember who you are…' Liam repeated insistently, 'you're Hephaestus'—'

'—favored child, I _know_.' I cut him off sharply, trying to keep the irritation off my face because of Percy's suspicious glance at both of us.

'It doesn't hurt to remind yourself of that.' Liam said quietly and nodded at the bridge before meandering away to join Frank.

I turned my attention back to the yawning abyss in front of me and shuddered just a little.

_Okay, _I thought to myself, _I'm Hephaestus' most awesome kid. I can handle this. _

Nothing changed.

I mean okay, I wasn't expecting something drastic to happen but a little sign would have been nice to show the tunnel had acknowledged my presence. A poof of glitter maybe?

I took a deep breath. 'Let's just start.'

Ignoring Frank's disbelieving looks; I headed over to the beginning of the bridge, gesturing to the others. They fell in behind me rather reluctantly and as we neared the insanely rickety bridge, I heard a couple of rather audible gasps.

I would've gasped too except I was too busy being the macho leader. The drop didn't look any better up close and personal and even though I didn't normally have issues with heights, every instinct in my body was screaming at me to get away from it.

'We need something…' I muttered to the person behind me –who turned out to be Liam– 'like a safety net or something.'

'How about a rope?' He suggested.

I opened my mouth to answer but Frank interrupted me challengingly.

'What so if one of us falls, we all fall with him?'

By the way he was looking at me, I had a feeling he wanted me to fall. Go figure.

'Look if anyone has a better idea, the floors all yours.'

I spread my hands and waited but nobody said anything. Frank looked mutinous while Hazel gazed at him worriedly.

Annabeth was glancing down the side, probably calculating how long we could fall before we'd hit the bottom and Percy was looking up, checking out the stalactites.

Liam was already fishing around for the rope.

'Great. We'll stick with the rope then.'

I said and held out my hand. The next few minutes was spent with all of us forming into a line and tying the cord our around our waists.

I was followed by Liam and then Hazel and Frank. Percy brought up the rear, with Annabeth just in front of him.

Liam checked the knots one more time before pronouncing them safe.

_I am Leo Valdez, favored child of Hephaetus. You _will_ take me to Gaia. _

In my head the words sounded commanding but the cavern around me diminished the sudden sense of confidence.

Unable to make myself wait any longer, I looked down at the beginning of the ledge, raised my foot and took the first step.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: The review train seems to be drying up. Are you guys getting bored? :/**

* * *

><p><strong>26) I Have A Heart-To-Heart With A Tunnel<strong>

**Leo- II**

It held.

Surprisingly.

I hadn't expected it to.

I rocked back and forth on my feet but nothing gave way. The bridge was exceedingly narrow but it seemed to have an inner air of stability. Just to make sure, I took a step back and then jumped full force on to it.

The rock held fast underneath me which was just as well because I really didn't want to resort to Jason's ideas of shouting "Flame On!" to save myself.

'Well?' Liam questioned once I was done staring in disbelief at the surface beneath my feet.

I let my gaze travel to the far side while my mind worked furiously. The bridge itself wasn't the biggest problem in front of us. The biggest problem would be how all of us were going to keep our balance as we walked the mile across the empty chasm.

The width of the bridge was scarcely bigger than my foot. The walk was going to be taxing especially for me since I was going to have to will the path to be stable.

'Sideways.' I announced to the expectant silence behind me. 'We're going to do this sideways. It'll be our best chance.'

No-one, not even Frank, questioned my decision. Aside from the general murmurs of prayers and curses, nobody said anything.

'We'll set a pace,' I continued confidently, 'every five seconds we take a step. That'll give us a tempo and reduce chances of us falling over.'

'Like a rowing team?' Annabeth asked.

'Precisely.' I beamed back and she shook her head in the now familiar "what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you" gesture.

'Liam you count off.' I ordered and he simply nodded, his blue eyes fixed on the vast emptiness below us. I resisted the urge to tell him to look away and focus on something a little less negative. He was, after all, a big boy. He could handle himself.

I looked at the rest of them and saw the usual mixture of grim determination and acceptance. We'd all been in situations like this before: where things could, literally, go either way.

I tried desperately to shake off their expectations and focus on my task. I had to keep the bridge stable and remember the tempo. Teamwork was going to get us across but if I didn't come through, it didn't matter how well the others did. At the end of the day, we'd still be at the bottom of a very deep hole.

My stomach gave a nasty twinge and I raised my hand to my forehead only to feel a sudden accumulation of sweat. I rolled my shoulders and sent the usual "_take me to Gaia" _command before fixing a smile on to my face.

I was ready to rumble.

* * *

><p>'One-two-three-four-<em>five.<em>'

I moved my right foot a pace, shifted my body weight and brought my left foot forward, so that both my feet were side-to-side. I breathed out as I completed the movement and ignored the black hole yawning beneath me.

Or well, I tried to, since being suspended over an infinite drop with nothing but your own balance to keep from falling over isn't exactly the most relaxing sight in the world.

Ever since we'd begun our trapeze act, my right hand had begun trembling ever so gently. We were now more than three-quarters across.

It hadn't stopped since then.

'…two-three-four-_five._'

I moved my right foot, keeping my centre of gravity steady, breathed out and moved my other foot in tandem with Liam, Hazel, Frank, Percy and Annabeth. Yeah it was like one big familiar operation except, if even one of us messed up, we'd be dead.

Or falling forever.

I didn't even know which. The mental strain was enormous and every time we finished one sequence I barely felt any relief. Thankfully, salvation was coming closer and closer.

'…three-four- _five._'

A sudden shooting pain traveled up my temple causing me to stumble slightly. However, I managed to keep my balance and finished upright.

I cleared my throat and raised a hand to my head to wipe off the sweat but I didn't do a very thorough job and some off it dripped into my eye, making it water. I cursed and brushed it off impatiently.

'You're okay?'

Blinking rapidly, I looked up to find Liam watching me.

'Fine.' I answered shortly and resisted wiping my forehead again. I swallowed, attempting to get rid of the bitter taste in my mouth and took a deep breath. Nausea was roiling through me.

'Sure?'

'_Yes. _Just, count off!' I ground out.

'… four-_five._'

Just as I moved both my stomach clenched and I doubled up, unable to keep my balance. Caught half-way in the middle of nowhere, I tilted sideways, and would have fallen over had Liam not caught hold of me in time.

As it was, my stumble cost the stability of the whole group and for one dangerous moment the others came perilously close to falling off themselves.

'_What _is wrong with you?'

Liam growled once everyone had stopped flailing about. I didn't answer; trying to manage both the pain in my stomach and head. My cheek stung and when I trailed my fingers over it, they came back wet with blood. I worked my jaw and got to my feet carefully, leaning heavily on Liam's supporting arm.

I had no idea why everything in my body had decided to stop working right at this one moment but I wasn't about to wait and figure it out. The other side was only a few precious feet away.

'Count off.' I said, ignoring Hazel's anxious look. It didn't take a genius to realize I looked like crap.

'Leo, you should probably eat some—'

'Not here!' I cut her off rather savagely and gestured to the drop on both sides of us. Even standing still was putting our lives in peril. I could last a few more minutes before collapsing.

I looked at Liam and repeated, 'count off!'

He looked at me silently and nodded.

We got back into position and I closed my eyes briefly, hoping it would help me focus. It didn't; it made me feel much worse. I swallowed, feeling my throat become uncommonly dry because of the repeated action. My hand trembled ferociously and with great effort I managed to steady it.

'…-_five._'

And everything went wrong.

(Just to be clear, it wasn't my fault!)

No, this time I was the bridge itself. It shook violently and threw us off our feet. By chance I fell face first and did the only smart thing I'd ever done up till then. I gripped the sides and hung on for my life.

Behind me, I heard yells and shouts and then the rope around my waist became unbearably tight. The corresponding drag pulled me towards the ledge insistently but I still held on.

I'd shut my eyes in fear and the multitude of voices behind me didn't make the picture any clearer. And just to make things more interesting, my head began to throb again with a burning passion.

'—towards me so don't move, okay, Valdez?'

Liam's voice distracted me from my plight for a moment. But only for a moment.

'Not planning to.' I groaned, still keeping my eyes shut resolutely.

I heard a mix of voice coming from… below. Using them I began to construct the possible scenarios in my head. Liam's voice was by far the closest and so I deduced rather cleverly that he was still with me on the bridge.

Percy, I could hear distinctly, his voice echoing slightly as it reached my ears. He was shouting a variety of instructions up to Liam, peppered rather heavily with the choicest of swear words.

Hazel's high clear voice mingled with Percy's but since it stood an octave higher than his, I heard could hear most of her words. Something about Frank not responding to what she was saying.

Oh dear.

I couldn't hear Frank or Annabeth at all.

'… Valdez? Are you listening?'

I let out a half strangled groan to acknowledge his question and to find a release for the building pressure in my head. Various colors were floating across my spectrum and here and there I saw glimpses of my mother's face.

'—hit his head so I'll need you to anchor me. Hold tight.'

I tried to protest and tell Liam that I hadn't heard half of what he'd said but I couldn't get the words out, mostly because my mouth was half filled with dirt. I groaned again when another violent spasm of pain burned its way across my forehead.

Simultaneously the drag of the rope increased exponentially and the fingers of my left hand slipped another few precious inches.

'Valdez?'

I moaned into the ground.

'Valdez!'

'I'm here!' I shouted back and for a terrifying moment I nearly lost my tenacious grip. I wriggled forward, failed miserably and settled for grabbing on to whatever hold was available.

'_Valdez?_'

'_What?' _I yelled back, completely frustrated. My body was being stretched like an elastic band and I was pretty sure my brain was hemorrhaging gallons of blood, going by the vicious headache and the steadily building nausea.

'I told you to anchor me!'

'Yeah well, that isn't too easy—'

The bridge shook again, drowning out the rest of my words and I lost my grip completely. The sheer weight of the others pulled me down faster than I thought possible and my legs were over the edge within seconds.

I twisted over at the last moment and managed to wrap my fingers over one jutting out piece rock. At the same moment, I smashed my cheek into the rocky surface of the bridge and opened up another bloody gash.

The tremors died away moments later and when my vision swam back into focus I found myself eye to eye with a rather wonderful texture of rock.

Everything below my navel was hanging off the edge, dangling in empty space and the only thing keeping the rest from following were my arms, which were wrapped rather securely around my little rock…

And Liam.

He was right beside me, in the exact same position, but his arms were longer than mine and he'd reached all the way to the other edge to hold on.

He had a rather ugly scratch drawn from his eyebrow to the tip of his mouth but otherwise he seemed pretty okay. It took me a second to realize that he was holding most of the weight and if it hadn't been for him, we'd have all gone over the edge with the second tremor.

'Hey,' I said weakly. 'How's it going?'

Liam cursed fluently in Greek and even though I'd had about six months of classes, I didn't follow half of what he said. Eventually, he switched over to English.

'Did I not _tell _you,' He began furiously and rather comically because, like me, his cheek was pressed into the ground, 'to _remember _who you are?'

'You did.' I replied wearily, too tired to say anything else.

'Then _what _are you doing?' He demanded, pointedly ignoring Percy's increasingly livid shouts for us to do something along with Hazel's plaintive calls of assistance.

'Well, at the moment, I'm a little occupied—'

'If _you _don't remember who you are,' Liam interrupted loudly, 'then we might as well let go. The result is going to be the same anyway.'

A little silence followed those words and Percy's shouts only added to my pounding headache.

'Why d'you think the bridge is shaking?' He continued in the silence. 'You said it yourself—this is a _test. _The tunnel is testing you—and you are failing. Miserably.'

'Then what do you want me to do?' I said through gritted teeth, feeling the strain worsen in my arms.

'You are—'

'No I'm _not!_' I cut him off definitively, knowing where he was going with his words. 'I'm not Hephaestus' _favored _child, I never was!'

Liam stayed silent, in fact the whole cavern was silent except for Percy's dogged efforts to make verbal contact with us; Hazel had apparently given up.

'He gives me an ability—this _gift _as you like calling it_,' _Liam flinched at the venom in my tone,_ '_which I can't control! He expects me do things that I can't even—'

I broke off and let my forehead rest against the cool rock below me. My head was pounding so horribly that flashes of indescribable colors were creeping across my vision.

I saw another flash of my mother's face—smiling warmly at me and a tear dripped down my cheek in response. What I wanted, more than anything, was to just let go.

'Valdez, listen to me.' Liam spoke quietly but I didn't raise my head from the ground. Nevertheless, he continued. 'You think your father doesn't love you—'

'I _know _he doesn't love me!' I snapped, looking back up and blinking the various spots out of my sight.

'Because he makes you push yourself?' Liam countered and I saw a gleam of anger in his eye. 'Because he wants you to do things you don't want to? Because he gives you a gift—and yes it is a gift_,_' he said forcefully as I opened my mouth to object, 'that you haven't _learned _to control?'

I stared at him, ignoring the sweat dripping into the corner of my eye. 'He ignored me for fifteen years—'

'But is he ignoring you _now_?' Liam spoke quickly. 'Has he disowned you?'

I didn't say anything.

'Tell me,' Liam continued, 'does he curse himself for your existence?'

I swallowed, suddenly aware that we weren't talking about my father anymore.

'Hephaestus,' Liam said, 'is a god. And like all gods he is a completely flawed personality…'

I didn't miss the utter scorn in his voice as he spoke.

'… but he _has_ given you a gift. And you would be a fool not to use it.'

I looked down, and for the first time in my entire life wondered if perhaps, my father didn't think of me as an unwanted piece of machinery.

Yes, I didn't know what he was up to with the whole Gaia plan and yes, he was being completely unfair by handing me such an overwhelming task but in his own way, he'd endeavored to try and warn me.

Almost immediately the ache in my head lessened rather significantly.

'The tunnel wants you to lose,' Liam whispered, 'it resents your stature. Don't let it win.'

With the hugest effort, I looked up to the roof of the cavern and felt only a sense of pity. My father had been thrown from a mountain. I had been given something no child of his had received in four hundred years. There was really no contest.

_I am a favoured child of Hephaestus. You shall not hurt me. _

The various aches and pains in my body didn't disappear but they did reduce by a considerable degree. I understood; the tunnel both hated and respected me. I'd never be completely fine in it but I couldn't be harmed either.

The same couldn't be said for my friends: Percy was still yelling at us.

'Tell me you have a plan.' I groaned to Liam.

'I do.' He replied. 'But there's a complication.'

'I'm listening.'

'Frank whacked his head pretty badly when the bridge shook the first time. He's currently hanging upside down.' Liam explained.

I couldn't help but feel a little bubble of well justified joy at that.

'Hazel's the first below us. Then Frank and then Annabeth and Percy.'

'How's Annabeth?' I asked, remembering that all this while I hadn't heard even a squeak out of her.

'I don't know. I'm hoping she's conserving energy.'

The guilt I felt from that statement hit me like a ton of bricks. Lost in my own worries, I'd forgotten completely about her injury.

'So what's the plan?' I asked quickly, feeling my fingers turn into jelly one by one.

Liam looked me in the eye, 'I'm going to get up and haul them up one by one.'

'Oh brilliant,' I replied, 'so I'll just hold us all up, on my own.'

'Precisely.'

It took me a while to realize that he wasn't kidding.

'What—hey, no!'

He grinned, mouthed "tunnel" at me and proceeded to get up. I braced myself… but strangely the load didn't increase as much as I expected it to.

Sure it felt like my fingers were popping at the joints one by one and my arms certainly felt like they were about to fall off but I didn't let go of the ledge and that was the only thing that counted.

Meanwhile, amidst much grunting and groaning, Liam finally got around to lifting the others up. Suddenly, I was glad that I wasn't in his position. With enormous effort he began the process and by the gods, it was probably the worst thing he'd ever had to do.

Two minutes of diligent effort later, Hazel came coughing up to the bridge. I didn't see it of course. I was too busy keeping them "anchored."

A hurried conversation later and Liam was at it again with Hazel shouting instructions. I figured they didn't want to bump Frank's head again; not after the death of his already few brain cells.

They brought Frank up eventually and Hazel moved off to revive him. I cursed my luck but stopped soon enough once Liam resumed his heinous duty.

Getting Annabeth up proved to be exhausting because of the various complications that were associated with her wound. After several minutes of discussion, Liam, Hazel and Percy agreed on one consolidated plan.

Implementation of said plan took another ten minutes and by the time Percy finally came up as well, I couldn't move from my position because my arms had fallen asleep.

'Frank you better eat another piece—'

'… I wonder what's waiting for us…'

'Is Leo okay…?'

The conversation washed over me and I felt oddly comfortable despite the pain radiating from all my joints. With my face stuck to the ground, it was easy to imagine that my part of the quest was now over.

I'd done what I'd had to. The other side was less than a couple of feet away—we'd be able to make it quite comfortably.

Through the dim haze which was covering all my senses, I a heard variety of muted sounds. Intrigued, I raised my head but the shadows around me restricted my sight.

A feeling of acute discomfort hit me and all of a sudden I knew I needed to get up because something of great importance was about to happen.

Gritting my teeth, I began to unclench my fingers from around the rock. Gasping with the effort, I drew my arms in slowly and—

A single black feathered arrow zipped across my face and embedded itself into the bridge, mere inches from my face.

I pushed myself up immediately, suddenly able to ignore the various protests my body made because of the adrenalin pumping through me. Behind me, the others stirred into action as well but for all our preparedness, we were rather screwed.

Why?

Because a foot away, standing on the other side of the bridge, with nearly twenty armed Dracaena behind him, was Lityerses.

Hephaestus Way had come through for me.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: A few of you are asking about the significance of 'The Mark of Athena' tile. Trust me, I haven't forgotten about it. Like I said earlier, (in answer to when Percy's going to bathe in the Styx) it's all part of a plan. **

* * *

><p><strong>27) I Start Doing Things My Way.<strong>

**Leo- III**

I had to say, I was a little surprised to see my dear friend Lit.

The last time our paths had crossed, Jason had had him turned into gold, courtesy his father King Midas. But here was, looking very un-goldified but otherwise exactly the same.

Actually, wait, no. His face was sporting a set of fresh scars which gleamed red in the gloom. They cut down the side of his face as though an angry bear had clawed him mercilessly. The longest of the three came all the way down to the side of his bottom lip, causing his mouth to be set in a permanent grimace.

Yeesh, as though he wasn't ugly enough.

'Leo Valdez, well done.' He stated, and his mouth twisted (further) into a familiar cruel smirk.

A rather poignant silence descended over the group as the others filtered through Lit's works. As with all the other times we'd been in screwed up situations, Liam reacted first.

'You.' Liam growled behind me and on instinct I took the five steps required to get off the bridge and put my protection solely in the hands of Lit.

Cowering behind The Reaper of Men, I felt moderately safe. Only moderately, because I could now see the others and without exception, all of their gazes were set unwaveringly on me.

'Another step, traitor, and I will have your head.' Lit said, his eyes flashing dangerously.

Liam stopped, only because he had nowhere else to go. He was stuck on a bridge with people both behind and in front of him. He was also hopelessly outnumbered. That didn't stop him from sneering though.

'Is that so? Because the last time you tried worked out so well for you?'

Lit flinched involuntarily and I had to step away to avoid his trembling sword. I didn't go very far; the Dracanae hissed at me threateningly.

'All this time,' Liam said, his piercing gaze going past Lit to settle on me, 'you've been working for _her._'

I was acutely aware of the other stares fixed on me—particularly Annabeth's worn disbelief. Percy's accusing eyes pinned me to the spot and Hazel's realized horror cut right through me.

My throat closed up which was just as well because if I'd have been able to talk, I'd have probably blown the whole thing then and there.

Liam snarled and moved astonishingly fast, drawing both his swords in the same movement, 'you worthless swine—'

I stood, paralyzed, unable to even summon my hammer to defend myself but Lit shook himself out of his daze and took a step forward, swinging the hilt of his sword in a powerful arc.

Liam hadn't expected The Reaper of Men to react; he moved his nearest blade to defend himself but the sheer force of Lit's blow threw him off balance.

He was exactly one step away from the end of the bridge.

Liam spun, and dropped his swords but it wasn't enough. He slipped and he went over the side. At the last moment however, he managed to grasp the rocky surface with his fingers and hang on.

Hazel screamed and bent down to help him but Lit stepped forward, his sword outstretched and forced her back. 'No one moves.' He said quietly, 'no one.' The Dracanae next to me raised their weapons to illustrate their leader's words.

I continued standing there, unable to meet Liam's gaze but unable to look away either.

Leisurely, Lit bent down and regarded Liam, his eyes gleaming with undisguised cruelty. To his credit, Liam didn't beg for help. He simply hung on determinedly.

'The last time we met, you mocked me,' Lit spoke and his tone shook with fervor, 'today; I shall repay you in kind.'

Against all odds, Liam smiled. 'Honestly, I think I made you look prettier.'

It was the last straw. With a wounded roar, Lit stood up and kicked Liam full in the face. The latter didn't have a chance. Liam let go to protect his face and hung in the air for a moment, before disappearing from sight without a sound.

'NO!' Frank shouted, but a warning shot fired by the armed guards stopped in his tracks. He looked at me, fire burning in his eyes and I took another step back bumping into the slimy snake women behind me.

Lit stood up, radiating self-satisfaction. He turned to me, 'we met in trying circumstances last time, Leo Valdes but our Mistress was right—you _have _done well.'

I nodded, disgust bubbling up inside me.

Lit turned around to survey the others, trembling with restless energy again. 'Five of the seven—here at my mercy.' He narrowed his eyes at Percy, 'I would be glad to test my sword-arm against you, Jackson.'

Percy didn't reply, his eyes were boring into mine.

'And Annabeth Chase,' Lit's voice dropped to a purr, 'yes, we have great plans for you.'

Percy clenched his teeth and his arm twitched toward the pocket which contained Riptide but thankfully he didn't draw it. I was glad; I didn't think the Dracanae would be firing any more warning shots.

'Chain them up,' Lit commanded his guards. 'And use the special rope on this one, 'He gestured to Frank, 'we don't want him slipping out, do we?' The Dracanae sniggered in amusement at Frank's cornered expression.

I didn't understand the joke; I was too busy trying to figure out how I was going to get them all out of this mess. Liam. I needed Liam.

Except he was most probably dead.

'And you Leo Valdez…' Lit spoke, stepping up to me. His face looked even worse up close and personal with his scars –particularly the angry red ones– standing out in high relief. 'What are we going to do with you?'

'I—um, well…' I swallowed; my throat completely dry. Next to me, the Dracanae were tying up Hazel with heavy, thick ropes. They'd taken her _spatha, _hissing with displeasure due to their proximity to Imperial Gold.

'Yes?' Lit's hooded eyes didn't look all too friendly, all of a sudden.

'I've, uh… now that I've delivered these guys to you,' I waved my hands airily in the direction of Frank who was being burdened with a weird earthen looking chain, 'I believe my work here is done.'

'No so quickly, Leo Valdez.' Lit sneered and caught my arm in a steel grip, preventing me from edging my way back on to the bridge. 'My Mistress is most interested in your sudden change of heart.'

'You can tell Gaia,' I said through gritted teeth as I tried my best to get him to release my arm, 'that I was feeling very charitable towards her cause.'

Lit laughed, a terrible sound on the whole. It sounded like somebody was grating a bunch of iron nails over a rough surface. I wondered if at some point in time, someone had slashed his vocal cords in a duel.

'You can tell her yourself, Leo Valdez.' He smiled nastily, 'she wishes to speak with you.'

I didn't have a chance to protest, with a single nod to the other guards who'd trussed up my friends like chickens; we began to move towards the steps cut into the wall of rock in front of us.

I looked back at the bridge desperately, but Lit's grip was too strong.

I began climbing the steps with a feeling of utmost despair and the pointy edge of a sword digging into my back. How the hell was I going to get out of this?

* * *

><p>'Holy Hephaestus.' I breathed, forgetting my troubles for the moment when the incredible sight met my eyes. The steps we'd climbed had gone on forever, (which led me to wonder about how they'd managed to sneak up on us so easily) finally ending with a heavy wooden door.<p>

The door in turn had opened into a low ceiling tunnel which caused everyone except Hazel and me to duck a little. Percy had very nearly tried to use the distraction to his advantage but Lit had anticipated the move and handed me over to a Dracanae, leaving himself free in case things went wrong.

The tunnel (unlike the steps) ended quickly and opened on top of a depression the size of a football stadium. It was looking into the depression (which looked liked a huge cereal bowl by the way) from the vantage point that I'd uttered my original exclamation.

On the far end, was a pit surrounded by an eerie green glow. Huge jars, which looked like amphorae on steroids, surrounded it and the entire place looked like a party where lots of Irishmen had gone mad on St. Patrick's Day.

A slow, sluggish black river cut the depression halfway and peppered on its banks were a hundred Telekhines slaving over round forges. Steam rose in clouds as weapons of various shapes and sizes were cooled in the river.

The entire place was throbbing with activity. Monsters roamed around, with armored mortals or heroes (I don't know which) mixing freely between them.

I thought of our war preparations and something inside me wilted. Their camp was bigger, more populated and better armored than us.

'Move.' Lit gave me a rough shove and the Dracanae hissed with laughter when I slipped and fell. The dirt –which was moist and rather clay like– stuck to my fingers and immediately my tips began to freeze.

I brushed off the dirt hastily but the sensation remained. In fact, now that I was paying more attention, the entire area pulsed with the strange cold feeling.

We were led down a thin path which was cut into the sides of the depression, winding around massive rock structures which looked like they'd been around for thousands and thousands of years. As we descended, the size of the depression became more and more apparent.

We stopped once we reached level ground at the opening of _yet_ another tunnel.

I suddenly remembered the map Liam had drawn.

_'The Hive.' Annabeth translated from the map and looked at Liam quizzically, 'The place where Nico is being held is named "the Hive?"'_

Now it made sense. The place was a virtual labyrinth of tunnels, crisscrossing each other and creating catacombs underground. It was the perfect place for Gaia to set up base.

'Split them up and take them to the caves.' Lit ordered, jerking me out of my thoughts and reminding me of my precarious position. I glanced around and saw Lit gesturing to the other four, pointedly ignoring me.

Using their spears, the Dracanae herded the others into the dark opening leaving me alone with Lit. I watched them leave worriedly; how in the world was I going to break them out?

'Come, Leo Valdez. My Mistress waits.' Lit said, grasping my arm once more.

Oh wait, I had bigger problems: I had to convince Not-So-Sleeping-Dirt-Woman that I was actually on her side.

I love my life.

* * *

><p>'Enter.' Lit jerked his thumb in the direction of a stone door set into solid earth. I looked at the door with rapidly building terror; there was no way I was going in voluntarily.<p>

(Un)Fortunately, I had a slightly insane Reaper of Men standing right next to me, making sure I did exactly as he said.

'Are you sure we can't work this out—?' I broke off when Lit moved past me and opened the door. The blast of freezing air knocked me backwards but my new found friend caught my arm and pushed me in, shutting the door in my face with an air of finality.

I turned around, expecting the worst.

And the worst it was.

The floor was freezing. The cold radiated off the earth in waves and cut right through me. The walls were circular and made of stones tightly packed together. Strange glowing markings were engraved all over them and simply looking at them made me feel weak to the knees... and not in a good way!

The crowning features of the room, however, were thick metallic chains built into the floor and caught in them was a huddled mass.

'Nico?'

I called out softly and the shape stirred.

My breath caught when a stray light of the shapes on the wall fell on his face. His face was a sickly white color and haggard— like an old man whose seen one too many deaths. Dark, haunted eyes stood out despite the numerous scars that cut paths across his brow.

I swallowed the rising bile when I realized that the scars hadn't healed. They all looked fresh and several of them oozed blood.

'A pitiful sight.'

Nico whimpered at the icy voice and I whipped around, alarmed. There was no one behind me though I did notice that the door through which I'd entered had vanished. I gulped and turned slowly on the spot waiting for something to attack me.

'Settle down, child. I only wish to thank you.'

My heart rate jumped but again no one else had joined me and Nico in the chamber. Feeling slightly better, I settled myself to interact with Gaia's disembodied voice.

'You're most welcome, may I leave now?'

Gaia chuckled, as though I'd asked the world's funniest question.

'So quickly, child? Surely you'll accept my gratitude before leaving.'

The earth between my feet loosened suddenly and my feet sank three inches into the mud before I had a chance to react. I tried to move but the previously soggy floor turned harder than cement within seconds and kept me in my place.

Panic pulsed inside me and my right hand erupted into flames but that didn't help whatsoever. I flailed around, but my feet didn't move an inch. All the while Gaia entertained me with her cold laughter.

'Look,' I began through gritted teeth, 'I did you a favor and I accept your thanks, now _let me go._'

'In a moment.' Gaia said and Nico groaned piteously in the corner. I couldn't help but glance over to him. He'd curled up into a protective fetal position and was now trembling uncontrollably.

'Do you see Nico di Angelo, child?'

I rolled my eyes; honestly, such theatrics.

'He tried to lie to me several times,' Gaia continued and her voice caused everything inside me to shrivel up just a bit. 'And look at him now.'

I tried my best to not let the threat get to me but looking at Nico smashed all my hopes of bravery. The guy didn't seem to even register my presence. He looked like wounded dog, abused within an inch of his life. I began panicking again and several fingers of mine began growing unbearably hot.

With supreme effort, I controlled myself and stopped my voice from shaking. 'What do you want to know?'

There was complete silence and the oppressive feeling of Gaia's presence lessened for one precious moment. But, before I could take advantage of it, and move my ankles, she spoke with a slight tremor.

'Why do such a great service for me, Leo? Six months ago you fought against me.'

I braced myself, intent on not giving anything away. I'd prepared myself for the question on the journey to the prison. Hopefully, Gaia would buy it.

'I'm tired of fighting.' I said carefully, 'and I figured if I helped you, you'd help me in turn.'

'And what do you wish that I do for you?' Gaia questioned and the ground rumbled beneath my feet.

'You have something I want.' Despite the cold, I could feel sweat beading on my neck. The sheer presence of Gaia was making me feel weak and every bad encounter I'd ever had was bubbling up to the surface of my mind. I could see Festus falling through the sky, followed by Jason lying dead on the floor of the Wolf House.

'What is it that you want, child?' Gaia's voice sucked the air out of my lungs and I could barely manage to keep myself upright. This was a thousand times worse than when Hephaestus Way had decided to test me.

'My mother.' I answered quietly and the temperature of the room dropped another few degrees. In the corner, Nico moaned and tried to curl himself into a tighter ball. I figured the only reason I was still alive was because of the inner fire burning inside me.

'What makes you think,' Gaia rumbled, 'that I can give you your mother?'

I went down on one knee, unable to stand any longer and the cold earth pressed against me, sucking any warmth I had away. I shivered uncontrollably but I still spoke.

'You control the Doors of Death.' I coughed out, feeling agonizingly pathetic. 'You _can_ give her back to me.'

The atmosphere flickered and for a fleeting second I felt a little more alive before Gaia's presence came back with full force.

'Say that I give back your mother,' Gaia said softly, her tone leeching away any feelings of hope I had left. 'What if you turn against me then?'

Groaning, I collapsed on to my elbows, breathing strenuously. The air around me was repressive and I was taking short painful gasps of oxygen to keep myself alive. I wanted to give up my secret just to make her stop torturing me but one little part of me was still fighting.

'I won't… turn against you.' I said, collapsing full face on to the ground. The earth rose up to meet me, covering my arms and legs, burying me in my own helplessness. I was on the verge of passing out when all of a sudden, the torment vanished completely.

I lay prone on the ground, gasping like a fish and feeling as though I'd run a hundred miles. I was shaking like a leaf but I found enough strength to raise my head. Across the room, Nico uncurled himself as well.

'Listen,' he began and I stared at him, shocked to hear him speak at all, 'we don't have much time—' he stopped abruptly and crumpled just as the crushing weight of Gaia's presence returned.

'Leo,' she said as though nothing had interrupted our delightful conversation, 'you have served me well but I'm afraid—'

'I can still help you!' I wheezed, sudden inspiration striking me. There was no way I was going down without a fight: my friends were counting on me, even if they didn't know it.

'How?' Gaia asked, scorn evident in her tone.

I gathered my thoughts and forced them into one coherent line, fighting the urge to let the earth drown me. 'They others don't know I've turned. I could go back and sabotage _The Argo_ for you.'

The air stilled as Gaia contemplated my words. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nico trace something on to his arm very slowly. I tried to focus on it without giving anything away.

'Very well.' Gaia said suddenly, surprising me so much that I forgot to try and decipher what Nico was writing on his arm. 'I shall release you Leo Valdez, to sabotage that wretched ship,' she paused and I stifled a groan as the earth clenched painfully around my feet, 'and if you succeed, you shall have your mother alive.'

The mud turned loose again and I pulled my feet out without a second's hesitation. I also pushed the thought of resurrecting my mother, away. She was dead; there was nothing more I could do for her. The idea retreated to the back of my head, where I knew it would reside for a while.

A sudden noise drew my attention to the right where both Lit and the door appeared. The Reaper of Men strode forward confidently, seemingly unaffected by the oppressive air.

'You're still alive, Leo Valdez.' He said, and I detected a hint of displeasure in his tone.

'Yeah, that's me. Still alive.' I responded and got to my feet painfully.

'Lityerses.' Gaia's commanding voice cut through the air like a knife, reminding me that I wasn't out of the woods yet.

'Mistress.' Lit bowed low, though it looked a little weird since he wasn't bowing to anyone in particular.

'Bring me Annabeth Chase, after you escort Leo back to his father's tunnel.' She instructed and Lit grinned brutally.

'Of course, Mistress.' He bowed again. 'What about Percy Jackson?'

Seizing my chance, I glanced quickly to my left but Nico was slumped lifeless on the floor. I frowned and tried to remember his earlier movements and make sense of them.

'Percy Jackson shall be dealt with later.' Gaia said silkily and Lit laughed.

I tried to keep my face impassive but it wasn't my strong suit. Here they were talking about possibly killing my friends—how was I not supposed to react?

'Come.' Lit grasped my arm again but stopped and changed direction, leading me over to where Nico was. With a conspiratorial smile at me Lit leaned back and kicked Nico in the ribs. The latter cried out in pain as I stood still, hating myself for not being able to do that.

'I'll be back, Son of Hades.' Lit whispered and seized my arm again to lead me out of the chamber. For one terrifying moment, the earth clutched at my feet and I stumbled but then I reached the door and practically flung myself at it.

As soon as I was outside and the door had disappeared, I turned away from Lit and threw up against the wall, much to his amusement.

* * *

><p>'C'mon, c'mon… <em>c'mon!<em>' I muttered to myself and ran down yet another winding passage before coming to a dead end. I swore to myself and kicked at air, which proved to be the most futile thing I'd ever done up till then.

'You're entirely useless, you know that?' I said up to the roof above my head. Exhausted, I slumped against the wall and put my head into my hands. I was tired, wound up and completely directionless. I was shooting in the dark with blanks and hoping for a miracle.

After Lit had led me back to Hephaestus Way, I'd run like a freaking mad man, looking for something—anything that could help me. I'd asked the tunnel for Liam, I'd prayed to my dad for Liam and all I'd been given was more tunnels to go running down. I didn't even know if I could find way out of the maze.

'He's dead, isn't he?' I muttered and let the dirt trail through my fingers. 'He's dead and surprise, surprise, it's all my fault.'

The tunnel didn't reply—thankfully.

I tried my best not to think of what Gaia was doing to my friends. Especially Annabeth; oh gods, what was Mother Earth doing to Annabeth right at this moment?

I closed my eyes in frustration and attempted to think. What were my options? I _could _try and go back to Camp Jupiter and get help but that would take far too much time (assuming of course that I made it out of the Underworld alive) and if I did get there, what would I tell Jason and Piper: that I knowingly led the others right into Gaia's clutches?

Even a lie would be on shaky ground because then the most obvious question would be how I managed to escape while the more experienced fighters couldn't?

'Couldn't you have, I dunno—kept Liam alive?' I called up to the darkness around me, 'would that have been so hard?'

_You need to want it enough. You need to believe…_

I opened my eyes in shock and sat up straight. The words had sounded in my head from nowhere. I remembered the words: it was the guide's advice to me to keep the bridge steady. I needed to _believe _that he was alive; otherwise I was never going to find him.

I stood up, brushing the dirt off my clothes impatiently. Liam _had _to be alive. He'd survived the tunnel before— he would have definitely managed to do it again. There was no other option really; I was screwed without his help. He. Had. To. Be. Alive.

Rejuvenated, I took three paces and concentrated my hardest on his face.

The seconds ticked away but I didn't let my concentration waver. Sure I had ADHD but sheer desperation trumps that every time.

And then I saw it: a flash of his face and the sound of falling water.

I opened my eyes and began sprinting back the way I'd come.

* * *

><p>I turned the corner of a passage and stopped breathless. I'd been running for five minutes straight and Hephaestus Way had led me to this place.<p>

Two steps forward and the passage opened into a cavern the size of Bunker Nine. In the center of it was a blue lake and feeding the lake from a ledge high above was a waterfall.

The whole sight was so beautiful—the crystal waters combined with the sparkling stones on the shores of the late, that it took me a whole second to register the howling.

Something—no wait, some_body _was writhing in the shallows of the lake, shrieking in pain. Or terror. Or possibly both.

Adrenalin pumped through me and ignoring the strain in my legs I pulled out my hammer and dashed forward, eager to help. The churning water made it difficult to differentiate between the danger and the victim and I splashed in, senses on red alert.

Something pink caught my eye.

I dived forward but my hand only came up with…

...Barbie Prime?

Understanding the situation suddenly, I turned to the familiar man still screaming for help. He was thrashing around, sending sprays of water in all directions. His brown hair was stuck to his forehead and his eyes were closed tightly.

'Liam, no, _wait_—hold on!' I shouted, the relief of finding him alive cancelled out by my inability to get through to him. He struck out and by pure fluke socked me right in the stomach. Gasping, I went down into the water and dropped my hammer in the process.

Liam and I struggled back and forth in the same style for a few minutes. He wasn't even aware of my presence –on account of his eyes being closed and everything– and every time I got a grip of him, he managed to slip away, smacking me a few times in the process.

I grabbed hold of his collar and fell backwards; using gravity to pull him over my head and out of the water, dumping him on the stony shore. Immediately, he stopped screaming and the heavy silence which followed –broken only by my gasps– was rather unnerving.

'Liam—hey, look at me,' I pulled at his shirt, attempting to shake him out of whatever it was that was torturing him, 'wake up man, wake up! I can't do this alone!'

Not knowing what else to do, I curled my fingers into a fist and thumped Liam's chest hard.

His eyes shot open and I nearly cried with relief. For a moment he stared at me with absolute bafflement. Then, a second later, the blue icicles narrowed in recognition. Before I could even react, he'd clutched at the collar of my shirt and tossed me back into the mud.

I snapped my fingers near my tool belt, forgetting completely that my hammer was lying somewhere in the lake. With one of his blindingly fast moves, Liam drew his sword and pressed the tip into my throat, just beneath my Adam's apple, drawing a trickle of blood.

'Leo Valdez..' He said hoarsely, 'it seems you have a death wish.'

'No wait,' I tried to move but that made the blade cut deeper into my skin. Ignoring the stinging sensation, I tried to find the right words. 'I need your help!'

'You need _my _help?' Liam growled and his eyes flashed with barely controlled rage. 'I did help you—then you fed me to the dogs!'

Clearly, I had very poor word choices.

'Look you don't understand—' I tried again but he cut me off.

'No you don't understand!' He twisted the sword a little and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from whimpering. 'You double crossed me. You handed me over to Gaia—'

'I _had _to! I had no choice!' I yelled, attempting to throw him off but he was far stronger and he held me down easily.

'_You_ had no choice?' Liam repeated incredulously, '_I _risked my damn _life _to make sure your friends would be safe and you betrayed them!'

'I was ordered to do that! By my father!'

A ringing silence followed my words, punctuated by the sounds of the waterfall behind us. Liam was so taken aback that he forgot to apply pressure with his sword, thus allowing me a few moments of sweet relief.

'You father?' Liam repeated, skeptically, 'Hephaestus ordered you to betray the others to Gaia?'

'Yes.' I answered shakily.

'Interesting…' The guide mused, 'of all the gods, I didn't expect him to flip.'

'He hasn't!' I protested.

Liam laughed loudly. 'Really? Did he tell you that sending the others off to Gaia was for their own good?'

I didn't say anything and a sick feeling invaded my stomach. Had my father really turned against me? Had he set me up by stringing me along with the few words about "little cogs in big machines?"

I looked at Liam and from his bitter smile I knew he certainly believed so. Some part of me rejected the idea, however. Hephaestus was a _god, _why would he turn against his own kind?

_To survive. _Said a voice inside my head snidely.

I gave myself a mental shake. I didn't have time to question my father's morality. My friends needed rescuing.

'It doesn't matter if he's turned,' I told Liam evenly, 'I have to get the others out of there—and I need your help.'

'My help?' Liam's eyes glittered and all of a sudden he was pressing his sword against my throat again. 'What makes you think I want to help you—any of you? I'd sooner slit your throat.'

'If you kill me you'll never find your way out of here.' I choked, playing the last card I had.

The guide frowned, mulling over my words while I tried not to think about the amount of blood I was losing. Wasn't the carotid artery somewhere in the neck? Didn't people die if that got cut?

'Fine, I can't kill you,' Liam conceded and I felt my hopes rise spectacularly, 'but that doesn't mean I have to help you either. They aren't my friends, I don't care what Gaia does to them.'

'What about Annabeth's Pearl?' I shot back, refusing to let my great plans of saving the day go up in smoke. 'Don't you want it?'

Liam's eyes bore into mine. 'I can live without the Pearl.'

'Yes, but think of what you _could _do with it, if you get hold of it!' I pressed my advantage and saw indecision flicker in his eyes. 'You help me save the others and I'll make sure Annabeth transfers it to you.'

I was lying through my teeth of course, I was pretty sure Annabeth had no plans of parting with the Pearl. Still, I had to try and it wasn't like I was feeling particularly friendly towards the guide; he had a freaking sword at my throat.

Liam snorted, 'what makes you think you can save your friends even with my help? How do you know they aren't dead already?'

I had no words to answer the latter part of the question until an image flashed in my mind's eye: Nico, attempting to trace something on to his hand. I'd finally figured it out; it was the letter _P. _

'You said Nico has one of the original Pearls?' I threw the statement at Liam and he frowned, puzzled over where I was going with the new conversational direction.

'Yes—' He started, but I didn't let him finish.

'That's it!' I exclaimed happily, putting all the pieces together. 'Nico still has control of the Pearl but he's fading… fast. It won't be long before Gaia pressurizes him into transferring it to her!'

'I don't see—' Liam began again but I interrupted him quickly.

'And Gaia's looking to secure the other original as well, so she's trying to get Annabeth to tell her the location! That's why she was so insistent on meeting her _first_!'

'But Annabeth doesn't know where the other original is. She didn't even know there _were _originals till I told her!' Liam argued, forgetting to threaten me with his sword because he was so caught up in the discussion.

'True, however Gaia must've figured Annabeth was her best shot because—'

'— she's the daughter of Athena!' Liam finished, realization dawning on his face. 'So as long as Annabeth stalls, Gaia won't kill her.'

'Precisely.' I agreed, 'and till she gets the second Pearl, Gaia isn't going to waste time on the others.'

'That still doesn't explain how you think I can help you break into that prison. It's impossible.' Liam stated, after a moment of silence.

'No it isn't,' I disagreed, 'we can use Hephaestus Way to get right to the edge of camp.'

'And then what?' Liam countered, 'we waltz in and ask Gaia politely for Annabeth, Nico and the others?'

'We use a distraction,' I said, trying to remember if I'd seen any weaknesses in the depression, 'and then we get those two out of the cell.'

'You're still forgetting Gaia!' Liam reminded me, 'the distraction isn't going to fool her.'

'Not ordinarily, no,' I concurred, 'but she's not in top form at the moment.'

'How'd you figure that one out?' Liam asked, his eyebrows drawing together questioningly.

A rush of images came through my head; Gaia's erratic method of interrogating me hadn't been a good cop/bad cop routine. Nico had attempted to take advantage of the time when she'd inexplicably vanished—which meant it had been happening frequently.

'Because keeping The Doors of Death open while simultaneously looking for the other Pearl is draining her. She'd figured she would have three giants helping her by now.' I said and looked at Liam quickly, 'you said Zeus hid the Pearls well, right?'

'Very well.' The guide nodded.

'That's our window then.' I said but Liam _still _didn't look convinced.

'And what is this distraction of yours?' He asked, 'are you going to light yourself up again?'

The mention of fire reminded me of something very important I'd seen in the depression; something which could potentially be our winning ticket out.

'No.' I said, the idea solidifying in my head. 'Where's your Pearl?'

'My—what?' Liam asked, taken aback as usual by the topic jump. Really, he should have been used to it by now.

'The red Pearl?' I reminded him.

He hesitated, a little too long for my taste before saying, 'I don't have it anymore.'

'Really?' I asked, thoroughly unconvinced.

'It fell out of my pocket…' Liam answered, 'when I was dangling off that bridge.' He glared at me and I busied myself in clearing my throat.

Stumped, I glanced around and noted the bright pink of Barbie Prime lying a few feet away. I made a mental note to pick up my hammer before I left and glanced around the cavern looking for inspiration.

The plan wouldn't work if I didn't have something explosive and though I could make a small charge out of the stuff in my tool belt, it wouldn't be enough.

I glanced at Liam hoping he'd have thought of a solution but he regarded me rather balefully so I looked away… only to look back, frowning.

'What happened to your scar?' I asked, suddenly aware that the cut he'd acquired on the bridge had vanished from his face completely.

'What scar?' Liam threw back, equally puzzled.

'You had a…' I trailed off, forgetting all about the various injuries we'd suffered when I caught sight of Barbie Prime again.

What I'd an idiot I was.

'Liam.' I said, and I mentally congratulated myself at how calm I sounded, 'I know what we're going to do. C'mon.'


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: I deserve something for updating so quickly. I do, I do! **

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><p><strong>28) A Tale, A Plan and A Bad Feeling.<strong>

**Frank**

The sound of dripping water was driving me insane.

I mean I'd heard of the water torture methods used by the Chinese but I'd never actually put any stock in them. Supposedly, the human brain is hard wired to make a pattern out of everything and the inconsistent sounds of falling water can drive a person to madness.

Just to distract myself I tried to struggle out of my chains but they held fast—just like I'd expected them to. I'd been trying for the past half an hour and they hadn't even budged.

See, unlike the others, who got ordinary ropes to play with, I'd got solid earth ones which had merged in with the earthen floor, forming a cocoon around me. I should also mention that they didn't let me transform into anything useful. Like an elephant.

A few feet away, Hazel shivered as another couple of drops fell in succession.

I sighed and attempted to find a more comfortable position but I didn't have any place to move. The earth had packed itself very tightly around me. The only thing I was grateful for was that my head and neck were clear of the wet clay. I suppose Gaia didn't want me dead just yet.

The fact that Leo had switched sides hadn't surprised me at all. Sure, I was livid about it and I wanted to wring his little neck but it hadn't come like a bolt from the blue. Ever since he'd lit himself on fire, I'd been suspicious.

And no, it had nothing to do with my fear of fire.

Nor had it anything to do with my jealousy concerning Hazel.

All this while I'd been worrying about Hazel liking someone other than me and Leo had been right under my nose.

_The flame-bearer, he's the one she truly desires…_

Gaia had been right all along of course. Ever since Leo had shown his true colors, Hazel had retreated into a sort of stony silence.

Percy and I had fought like jungle cats when they attempted to split us up but Hazel had simply let them push her around. Eventually, the Daracanea managed to subdue us and pack us off to different cells.

Even then Hazel hadn't protested.

Then again, finding out that the love of your life is working for the other side can come as bit of a deal breaker. As mad as I was at her for not telling me, I still couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She didn't deserve such a rotten deal—no one did.

'Hazel…' I asked, pointedly ignoring her silence, 'are you okay?'

She didn't answer and the water continued to drip unpredictably.

'Hazel,' I tried again, 'we need to figure out how to get out of here. We can't just sit around and wait—'

'He's going to come.' She interrupted me, her lips barely moving as she spoke.

'Who is?' I asked, confused.

'Leo.' She answered, her tone making it obvious that I should've figured that one out myself.

I stared at her worriedly. It was one thing to be heartbroken but quite another to be delusional, especially in situations where it could mean life and death. Was she cracking under the strain? A flare of hatred burned in me; when I found Leo I was going to make him pay dearly.

But for now, I had to concentrate on getting through to my best friend.

'Hazel…' I said gently, 'Leo's the one who put us in here. He isn't going to rescue—'

'Yes he is!' She cut me off again and when I looked at her closely, I saw two tears slide down her cheeks.

I stayed silent, not knowing what to say. Part of me wanted to just go along with what she was saying in the hopes that she'd snap out of it eventually. But the other part of me –and yes I'll admit it was the part that was hurt and bruised because of her rejection– egged me on to tell her that she was holding on to a lost cause.

I wrestled back and forth with the decision but before I came to any sort of definitive conclusion, Hazel began speaking.

'I know you think I'm crazy, Frank…'

'No I don't!' I protested.

She offered me a wan smile before continuing. '…but you don't understand.'

'I'm willing to listen.'

Hazel bit her lip, trying to figure out if I was being serious or not. My face must have projected the right image because she started to talk, her voice low and husky.

'Back when I was in New Orleans, before I moved to Alaska, I had a… friend.' She paused and closed her eyes, steeling herself for what she was about to say. 'His name was Sammy.'

I felt my heart drop from my ribcage and into my shoes. I had a very bad feeling about this story.

'He was the nicest, kindest boy I'd met up till then.'

'Up till then?' I asked, despite myself. For some reason I couldn't picture guys _not _being nice to Hazel. She was so nice, and so pretty—why would anyone pass that up?

Hazel sighed and a ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. 'You have to understand Frank, back then people weren't as accepting as they are now. They looked for excuses to discriminate against you—'

'That's crazy!' I said loudly, but Hazel only sighed.

'Adding to my skin color, the rumors about my curse made people wary of me. They didn't understand things and that made them defensive; always on the lookout to make me feel terrible about myself.'

Another tear trickled down Hazel's cheek and more than ever I wanted to get up and give her a hug. Sadly, I couldn't even move to scratch an elusive itch behind my ear, let alone across the room.

'And Sammy wasn't like that..?' I asked, cautiously.

'Sammy wasn't like that.' Hazel nodded, 'he didn't care about the rumors, or curses or anything. He cared about me—and that was all that mattered.'

I didn't know what to say. I wasn't even sure of where she was going with the story.

'You don't know what it's like Frank,' Hazel fixed her eyes to the floor, 'to be hated by everyone, including your own _mother._'

Her voice cracked on the last word and I felt a lump grow in my own throat. I'd seen the way she'd sacrificed herself for a better cause and I'd been impressed then, but to realize she'd done it after such a terrible experience made me look at her in a whole new light.

'Sammy was the only good that happened to me. And then, just when—' She paused and glanced at me very quickly as though evaluating what she should spill and what she shouldn't. '—just when things got better, I had to move to Alaska.'

I waited, very sure that she'd just edited out a couple of things from her story.

'I never saw Sammy again.' Hazel stated blandly and then added with considerable more emotion, 'never heard from him either.'

'I'm sorry.' I said humbly, but still a little confused.

Hazel closed her eyes and looked up, wiping away the remnants of the tears from her face, leaving splotchy mud marks in their place. 'Sammy's last name was Valdez.'

I stared at her, too shocked to react. My heart came travelling back from my shoes and took its place in my ribcage, where it began thumping with great effort as though reassuring me that it was still working and not broken into lots of little pieces.

After a minute of listening to the ever present sounds of dripping water, I found my voice. 'Is… Leo related to him?'

Hazel shrugged tiredly, looking more worn out than ever. 'I don't know but they look exactly the same.'

'The… same?' I repeated faintly, very sure that that my lungs were about to collapse and that I was going die from the inability to breathe.

'They look the same, they talk the same and they even have the same smile.' Hazel clarified and I had to suppress a wince, feeling every word pierce little holes inside me.

'Hazel..' I said quietly, hating myself for even saying the words, 'did you love Sammy?'

She opened her eyes but continued looking upwards, 'I don't know.'

I cleared my throat, 'do you love Leo?'

She flinched but answered anyway, 'I don't know.'

I gulped, feeling every little molecule in me being squeezed out of breath. 'Do you love me?'

She sighed and looked down at me, her eyes brimming with unshed tears and said for the third time, 'I don't know.'

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and tried to keep a straight face. I had to try very hard. All this while, I'd figured Hazel's sudden affection for Leo was completely random but now… with a whole "across-a-lifetime" connection; I didn't stand a chance.

'Frank, Hazel said, lifting one of her tied arms in a futile gesture to reach me, 'I'm sorry—'

She didn't get to complete her apology (not that it would've made much of a difference) because a body, quite literally, fell through the roof and landed in a cloud of flying earth.

* * *

><p>'Stupid tunnel.'<p>

The person muttered, slowly climbing to his feet, while Hazel and I stared at him in utter disbelief.

It was Leo.

Leo Valdez.

'Ah good,' He said clapping his hands and turning on the spot to survey us, 'is anyone hurt?'

I was too astonished to speak but apparently Hazel wasn't suffering from the same dilemma.

'I _knew _you'd come.' She whispered, and the utter joy that radiated off her face made me sick to the stomach.

Figuring it was good to always present a balanced reaction, I growled, 'what the hell do you want?'

Leo looked completely baffled by my question, 'I thought it was obvious. I'm here to break you guys out.'

Hazel let out a little whoop of joy and held out her chained hands eagerly. While I stared at them in acute amazement, wondering if I'd heard correctly, Leo proceeded to slice her ropes to ribbons with a small knife he procured from his tool-belt.

'I—wait, you…' I trailed off as Leo turned to me expectantly and tried my best to figure out what I wanted to say, '_you're _the one who got us captured in the first place!'

Leo's expression didn't change. Instead he began ruffling around in… was that _Barbie Prime_?

'Yeah, about that… it's a long story; I'll fill you in later.' He pulled out my bow and quiver and tossed them to Hazel to hold on to.

'Fill me in later?' I repeated incredulously, 'you're a traitor! I should kill you!'

'Frank—' Hazel protested but Leo turned around, his eyes narrowing to slits and interrupted her. 'No its okay, Hazel. Go on Frank, get it off your chest.'

The utter reasonability in his tone plus Hazel's pleading expression made something snap inside me. In my defense; I was a Roman. There was no such thing as betrayal in the Legion. You put your life on the line for your friends, not the other way around.

'You think you're a real funny guy, don't you?' I started furiously, wishing I was free from my earthen bonds just so that I could punch him the face as I spoke, 'yeah, you throw us over to Gaia and then you come back half an hour later saying it was all a mistake. You make me sick; you aren't a hero, in fact you're a pathetic excuse of a human being!'

Leo didn't say a word so I continued, ignoring Hazel's continued efforts to shut me up, 'I don't even know how you sleep at night. I wonder what your Mother thinks about the kind of son she's raised—'

'My mother is dead!' Leo hissed, his hands curling into fists.

'So is mine!' I roared, 'and you've taken the only people I care about and made them nearly dead too!'

Leo stared at me, breathing heavily and I stared back, utterly livid. In the background, the water continued to drip in slow, haphazard patterns.

'Fine.' Leo said, shrugging his shoulders. 'You don't want to be rescued? That's fine by me. You can stay right here.'

'Oh I will.' I shot back, 'I don't want to owe anything to scum like you.'

Leo opened his mouth to retort but Hazel interrupted him.

'Enough!'

We both looked at her in surprise.

'Enough.' She repeated and wrenched the knife out of Leo's hand. 'If you guys don't want to work together, it's your problem but _I _am not leaving my friends behind.'

With a few efficient strokes, the earth around me crumbled and all at once blood rushed to my extremities, making them throb painfully. Hazel helped me get to my feet and then handed me my weapons before turning to Leo.

'So what's the plan?'

Leo and I started to object at the same moment but Hazel didn't give us the chance to speak.

'Don't even try!' She said warningly and despite the fact I had like half a foot on her, I felt just a little scared of what she could do with that knife she was holding.

'We are going to work _together_ and we are going to get out of this _together_. A quest is a quest; no one gets left behind.'

'But he's a traitor—' I began but Hazel rounded on me and I took a few steps back nervously.

'I don't care Frank;' She said fiercely, 'what matters is that he's here for us now.'

'To lead us into another trap maybe?' I argued.

'I'm not going to do that!' Leo countered hotly. And I mean the last bit literally; his hands were beginning to smoke. I took another nervous step backwards.

'Oh yeah? Give me _one _reason why I should trust you!' I said, my hands going automatically to my front pocket before I remembered I didn't have my charred piece of wood any longer.

'Because I'm your only shot at getting out of this place!' Leo said quietly and waved his hand so that the smoke dissipated. I glared at him, wanting to hit him with every fiber of my being but knowing how dangerous it could be for me if I got too near. I settled for a disbelieving snort.

'Somehow I doubt that.'

'Look man,' Leo started forward, 'you want to do this solo? Be my guest.'

'I'd sooner do that than place my life in _your _hands—'

Before I knew what was happening, Hazel turned towards me and slapped me across my face. My head whipped to one side and the air left my lungs. A stinging sensation spread across my left cheek. I turned my head back slowly and saw her staring at me levelly, angry tears glistening in her eyes.

'I don't care what you say Frank, but I'm going with Leo,' She raised her eyebrow, daring me to argue with her and continued, 'and you're coming with me. We're going to get the others and _leave _before they catch us.'

I looked at her silently, too surprised to say anything, my hand still patting my cheek.

Behind her, Leo smirked, 'Ha! Wow, you're a tough guy aren't you— ?'

'You don't say a word either!' Hazel rounded on him and Leo backed up so fast that he tripped over Barbie Prime and nearly fell. She took another step forward, raising the knife she'd taken, threateningly, 'you have a lot of explaining to do once we're out of here.'

For once, Leo didn't have a witty comeback.

'Now,' Hazel said in a controlled tone, 'I'm going to ask you again about the plan and nobody's going to object.' She shot me a look as she finished but I wisely kept my mouth shut.

Leo took a deep breath and from the depths of Barbie Prime took out a piece of paper which he flattened out on the ground, forcing me to bend forward to take a closer look.

'Right now,' He began by pointing his index finger to the map, 'we are here. What we have to do is get Percy and Annabeth _and _Nico,' He shot a pointed look at Hazel who looked a little thunderstruck, 'and leave through Hephaestus Way.'

I wanted to raise a host of objections about using Hephaestus Way (I didn't like the tunnel considering it'd given me a concussion) but Hazel shook her head, indicating me to wait.

'Anyway, the plan is that I create a huge distraction while Liam and Percy get Annabeth and Nico out of Gaia's little torture house.'

This time, Hazel and I spoke at the same time.

'What's Annabeth doing in Gaia's prison—?'

'_Liam? _He's alive—?'

Leo raised a finger. 'One at a time guys: yes, Liam's alive. I found him in Hephaestus Way.' He nodded at me and continued to Hazel, 'Gaia thinks Annabeth has some information regarding the original Pearl. She's in there with Nico.'

'You saw them?' I asked quietly, feeling more suspicious than ever.

Leo narrowed his eyes at me, reading my tone. 'Yes. Or.. well, I saw one of them.' He glanced at Hazel, 'Nico's not in a good shape.'

Hazel nodded, accepting the fact and probably filing it away so that she could react to it later. 'Who's going to break Percy out?'

Leo looked at his watch. 'I dropped Liam off to get him; we'll rendezvous with them in fifteen minutes.'

'And the distraction?' I questioned, feeling more out of place than ever. Strategy was my thing: I should've been the one making the plans.

Leo nodded, 'I was coming to that.' He pointed again to the map, this time a squiggly circle which no different from the squiggly circle next to it.

'I don't know if you guys noticed but at one end of the camp is a manufacturing plant of Greek fire.' He stopped and raised his eyebrows, waiting for us to be impressed.

I, however, was more confused than ever. 'What's Greek fire?'

Leo looked outraged, 'you've never heard of it?'

Almost apologetically, Hazel said, 'we're Romans.'

'Oh.' Leo looked taken aback for a moment, 'well, Greek fire is insanely volatile. One wrong move and it goes off like a bomb. Also it burns everything it touches—even underwater. It's every demigod's favorite siege weapon.'

'Every _Greek _demigod.' I muttered under my breath, feeling quite ill all of a sudden. Didn't Leo's parents ever tell him _not _to play with fire?

'Are you sure it's Greek fire and not something else?' Hazel asked, after shooting me a dirty look.

'Positive.' Leo replied, a tad smugly. 'I've worked with it a lot. It's bright green in color. I saw the glow from half a mile away.'

'So you're going to use the Greek fire as a distraction?' I asked, not wanting to hear more about his personal achievements.

'Yep.' Leo agreed, 'and while I'm setting everything ablaze, you guys will hack every enemy soldier to bits as they come running towards you.'

'What if the fire comes _running_ towards us as well?' I asked, feeling the need to make sure my life wasn't going to go up in smoke along with the various other monsters who were stuck making the stuff.

'It won't.' Leo said.

'You're sure about that?' I persisted.

'_Yes._' He said through gritted teeth and moved his attention over to Hazel, 'once we get everybody, we go back the way we came—through Hephaestus Way.'

'All of us?' I asked, seeing a rather gaping hole in the plan which could potentially blow up in our faces. 'By the time we get to the other side, half the Underworld will be waiting for us!'

'Yes, well…' Leo shrugged, suddenly not looking too confident anymore, 'I'm sure we'll manage.'

'_Manage?_' I repeated incredulously, 'we'll have two grievously injured demigods and the best you can come up with is, "_manage?" _'

'Fine, my exit strategy isn't perfect,' Leo frowned and then smiled nastily, 'you're welcome to fix it.'

'This is ridiculous.' I stated, not caring if Hazel slapped me again because honestly the entire plan was based on a lot of "ifs" and "buts."

'I'm sorry; I can't hear you coming up with something better!' Leo snapped.

I opened my mouth to use the choicest of Roman swear words Dakota had taught me when Hazel said, 'Arion.'

'I'm sorry—what?' Leo asked, completely sidetracked. 'Is that a type of food?'

'No silly!' Hazel smiled at him and I felt an ice pick stab my heart at the sight. She turned to me, her eyes shining. 'Arion can help.'

'Who's Arion?' Leo demanded.

Ignoring him, I turned to Hazel. 'Are you sure? Isn't he in the stables?'

She shook her head, 'I let him out to exercise and he took off like he usually does. I'm pretty sure he'll come if I call him.'

'Well, okay.' I conceded though I was still a little unsure of the idea—particularly because I didn't like riding that horse. 'We'll need to find a chariot.'

'It's a war camp.' Hazel said dismissively, 'I'm sure we'll find one.'

'Well then,' Leo said brightly, rolling up his map and getting to his feet, 'if that's settled, we'd better get a move on… there's just one more thing to do.' He bent down and began pulling the strings of Barbie Prime so that the mouth widened.

'I have a question though,' Hazel stated, her brow furrowing in thought.

'Shoot.' Leo said, and reached inside to tug at something still confined within the recesses of the pink bag.

'How're you going to get this Greek fire to explode? If you're too close you'll get…' She trailed off when Leo (huffing and puffing) lifted his humongous backpack out.

'Glad you asked.' Leo grinned and proceeded to undo the flap to the main pocket, 'I'd like to show you Exhibit A.'

It was like looking into an intricate clockwork puzzle. Several metal parts (made from brass, by the way they shone) winked back at us, all of them fitting into each other neatly. It now made sense why the backpack was always so heavy to carry. We'd been lugging around half a ton of bronze with us.

'What _is _that?' Hazel asked, her eyebrows rising in interest.

Leo simply smiled and I envied him of the simple joy the contents of the backpack had brought him. With amazing dexterity, he began pulling out the pieces one by one and fixing them together. He didn't need any instruction manual –I wasn't even sure if he had one– and simply relied on his instincts and the tools from his belt. He made a couple of mistakes but in the end, he had the entire thing assembled within minutes.

'The bronze canon!' Hazel suddenly said, 'I saw that in a dream!'

'You did?' Leo's impish grin transformed his face, 'wicked.'

I, however felt a familiar spike of anger. 'That isn't a cannon, Hazel, it's a freaking Bazooka.' I turned to Leo and said coldly, 'couldn't you have taken this out earlier? Back when we had to unleash the Lethe to save ourselves?'

Leo looked at me defensively, 'I didn't know I had it.'

I snorted, unable to believe my ears. 'Sure, I believe you. Anyway, how're you planning on carrying that around? Because I'm sure as hell not helping with it.'

'I don't need your help.' Leo replied coolly and then proceeded to press a hidden knob amongst all the complicated machinery. The Bazooka contracted, little gears and other bits and bobs clicking away till the entire weapon was strapped to Leo's forearm like some sort of wedding bracelet—except it went all the way up to his elbow.

'Ta da.' He said smugly.

I huffed and looked away, checking my bow and quiver for damage. They seemed to be in perfect shape but I didn't have many arrows left. I wondered if Barbie Prime had more and resolved to ask Liam as soon as I met him.

'Ready to move?' Leo asked Hazel, ignoring me.

She looked at me and for a second I held her gaze, trying to convey all the hurt I was feeling.

She looked away and said quietly, 'we're ready.'

'Awesome.' Leo grinned and pointed to the hole in the roof, 'let's get this party started.'


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: I know, I know. I'm totally screwing up the order but I can't help it.**

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><p><strong>29) I Get A Late Birthday Present.<strong>

**Annabeth**

I lay, gasping on the floor, feeling as though every bone in my body had broken into a million pieces. My head was swimming, I was nauseous and a sharp knifing pain travelling up my abdomen told me that my earlier wound had opened again.

'Had enough, child?' Gaia's taunting voice echoed in my ears. 'Perhaps now you'd like to tell me where the second Pearl is?'

My right wrist burned as though it was on fire; which it probably was, considering that was where the metallic chain was anchoring me to the ground.

'And you Nico?' Gaia asked pleasantly, 'are you ready to transfer the Pearl you have to me?'

Next to me, chained with the second cuff was Nico. He'd stopped protesting many minutes (or had it been hours?) ago. His eyes were closed and blood was seeping from his mouth where he'd torn his lip. I'd hoped I'd be able to look at him and maybe give him some hope but ever since I'd entered the prison, he hadn't even acknowledged my presence.

'Do you see Annabeth?' Gaia asked, her voice making my head throb viciously.

'Nico's been subjected to this treatment for a while,' She explained rather considerately, 'lately he hasn't talked much. I don't think he _can _anymore.'

'For the last time,' I groaned, hating the feeling of cold earth pressing against me from all sides, 'I don't know _where _the Pearl is.'

'Don't lie to me!' Gaia growled and the earth shook, jostling me from my spot on the floor, spinning me up into the air. My handcuff held fast though and pulled me back down (along with gravity) so that my head slammed into the ground.

My vision went red and then yellow and then slowly came back onto focus. I was lying spread-eagled on my stomach, except for my chained arm which was twisted over my back at an awkward angle.

I coughed and flecks of blood appeared on the ground beneath me. My chest burned and I automatically diagnosed it as a probable broken rib. My eyes watered from the pain, and the tears dripped down my cheek and on to the ground, mixing with the blood.

'I can keep this up for eternity Annabeth Chase,' Gaia whispered, 'resistance is futile.'

I tried to sit up, failed spectacularly and remained on the ground. Unknown to Gaia –and probably Nico– one of the copied Pearls resided in the front pocket of my jeans. Even so, I didn't think Gaia cared about it; she was after the originals and for some reason, thought I knew where they were.

'I don't—' I started but Gaia cut me off, her voice slithering like snakes into my head.

'My grandson is a fool!'

I blinked, wondering what in the world she was talking about. My brain wasn't functioning too well; I was feeling incredibly dizzy. I spat out some more blood and tried to move my handcuffed arm into a more comfortable position.

'Zeus is a _fool._' Gaia repeated, 'he's also paranoid and egoistical. He would never know where to hide those Pearls. So what do you think he did?'

I moved my free arm under my ribs and felt something wet seeping through my shirt. Blood; I had definitely cracked a bone, which had in turn had cut through muscle, rupturing veins and arteries in the process...

'He made his favorite daughter hide them of course,' Gaia continued oblivious to the fact that I wasn't listening to a word of what she was saying. 'Which _coincidentally _is your mother; Athena.'

'My mother didn't make any mention of these Pearls to me!' I said through gritted teeth, willing my rib to pop back into position. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I'd broken the same rib that had been snapped during the quest for the Golden Fleece.

'Really, child, don't expect me to believe such petty tales.' Gaia said, her tone laced with disappointment. The chain tightened around my wrist, flipping me over so I was flat on my back, staring up at the shadowy ceiling above me.

Beside me, Nico groaned, his eyelids fluttering like the trapped wings of a butterfly.

'You know Annabeth,' Gaia's voice floated down to meet me, 'you admire logic. I admire logic as well. I believe we can reach a consensus.'

I snorted and then regretted the action immediately. The pain in my chest was building steadily. I tried to breathe shallowly; figuring it would help with my abdomen as well but it didn't make much of a difference. I felt bile rise in my throat and swallowed it down.

'I have no wish to fight you…' Gaia said smoothly and I rolled my eyes. She must have seen the action because her next line was over emphasized.

'No, really I don't. I have not wished to fight any of you—Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel…' She paused and added silkily, 'Percy.'

I didn't miss the fact that she'd left out Leo's name. I tried not to think about his act of betrayal and focused instead on how I was going to get out of this prison. Sadly, no plan presented itself to me.

Gaia, by the way, was still talking. 'And you heroes are so short sighted. You think a war like this is fair play. Tell me, do you ever think about your families?'

A cold hand settled over my heart suddenly.

Gaia, sensing my interest, sharpened her tone. 'What happens when Dr. Fredrick Chase gets dragged into this? What happens when young Bobby and Matthew Chase's lives are cut tragically short because of their older sister's actions?'

'Please..' I whispered, watching images of my family being torn apart in mind's eye, 'please. I don't know where the Pearl is; leave my family out of this.'

Gaia laughed, high and cold and the last shred of courage I was holding on to vanished. Up till then, I'd believed I could withstand whatever she threw at me. I'd believed I had the strength to bear her methods but now I realized how naïve I'd been. Nico was living proof that a few short days spent in the dungeon could sap my very soul.

'I'm willing to ignore your family if you stop lying to me!'

Gaia's last few words blazed through my head and I jerked in reflex, trying to get rid of it. The action shifted all the broken and worn things in my body and for the next few seconds all I could see was red and yellow spots again as pain flared all through me.

'I keep trying to tell you…' I was crying now, tears of anger and helplessness running down my cheeks, 'I don't know where it is!'

My denial was only met by absolute silence. I waited, my breath hitching every time my rib throbbed. Other than the obvious pain, I could feel a hot creeping sensation spreading upwards from my stomach. I knew what that was; I'd felt it before, back next to the canal walls.

The arrow's poison.

It'd been battled for a while with whatever antidote Liam had given me but it was now, slowly, regaining its strength. I wondered which would kill me first: Gaia or the poison.

'Perhaps you draw hope from Nico here.' Gaia's words made me flinch again. I didn't want to but it was a completely subconscious reaction to everything she said. There was something so ancient and powerful in her tone that made my very skin crawl.

'You think if Nico can resist me, you can too.' Gaia continued, and I could hear the malice in her words clearly. 'But let me tell you, Annabeth; Nico's mother is dead. His sister is dead and his father will soon be dead. He has _nothing _to lose by delaying the inevitable.'

Just to prove her point, she did something to Nico, causing him to howl in agony. His wails echoed around the chamber and the insignias on the stone walls glowed brighter; death, decay and sickness oozing from them in waves.

'You, Annabeth Chase,' Gaia said once Nico's screams had lessened into silent sobbing, 'have _everything _to lose. You have a family…'

I gritted my teeth, hating her with the very fiber of my being.

'… and you have Percy Jackson.' Gaia finished triumphantly.

My heart stopped for a moment before picking up the beat furiously. I swallowed more bile and tasted something metallic on my tongue. More blood.

'I don't know if I told you before Annabeth, but Percy is very important to my plans.' Gaia said quietly, 'See I am going to use him. I am going to _use _him and I am going to drive him _insane._'

The ground below me vibrated as she laughed cruelly. More tears leaked from my eyes and I began to pray in earnest to every god I'd ever met; hoping one of them would answer.

'By the time _I _am done with _Percy Jackson,_' Gaia said slowly, 'he won't be a hero anymore. He will be a murderer; with the deaths of millions on his hands.'

A cold wind swept through the prison, which made no sense because there were no openings from where it could come from. I felt it chafe against my exposed skin, stealing away whatever little warmth I had left.

The earth tightened its grip around me, and I had to clench my teeth together to stop from screaming when it applied pressure around my torso.

'But I am willing to offer you a deal Annabeth—just like I offered one to Leo.'

My hands curled into fists at the mention of Leo. I couldn't believe he'd been working for Gaia all this while. Saving Hera, building _The Argo, _all of those acts were in fact merely to provide a cover for where is allegiance really lay.

'Tell me where your Mother has hidden the Pearl, Annabeth and I will swear on the Styx not use Percy.'

'You won't _need _to use Percy if you have both the Pearls.' I shot back, despite the fact that my common sense told me to keep a lid on it. Rule #1 of being interrogated; don't antagonize your interrogator.

Gaia chuckled, amused, 'True. I will not deny it. But imagine the pain and suffering he will be saved from if you were to tell me where the second Pearl resides.'

I stayed silent, indecision plaguing my mind. It was entirely possible that she was lying to me about using Percy but somehow I couldn't sense any deceit. She'd meant very word she said; if she didn't get the Pearls, she was going to use Percy to bring about the end of the gods.

However, the fact still remained, that I _didn't know where the second Pearl was located._

'Look—' I started but all of a sudden the earth loosened around me and the chain stopped cutting into my skin. The carvings on the wall lost their glow and the sheer oppressiveness of the air dissipated.

My head cleared immediately though my ribs didn't feel any better.

'Annabeth.' A hoarse whisper directed my attention away from the sudden clarity I was feeling, to my right where a barely familiar pale face was staring at me.

'Nico?' I said in disbelief.

He was gasping painfully as though the very effort of staying conscious was draining precious energy. He'd extended his left arm towards me, his fist closed tightly over something.

'Listen to me,' his voice cracked but he drew a shuddering breath and continued, 'we don't have much time—'

'You shouldn't be speaking!' I interrupted worriedly, 'if she hears you she'll know you're still fighting.'

Nico smiled painfully, 'I know, but it's okay. We're safe for now.'

'How—?' I started but Nico shook his head adamantly, his dark hair falling over his eyes.

'I'll explain later.' He said insistently, 'give me your free hand.'

Since the hand closest to him was cuffed, I had to turn on my side and reach over myself, causing my ribs to burn with great ferocity. Ignoring the pain, I caught his hand with mine and felt a round shape press into my palm.

'Nico…' I started, sudden realization dawning on my mind, 'what are you—'

'I give this to you, Annabeth.' He whispered and shut his eyes. A blue glow appeared around our clasped hands and I had to close my eyes because it was so bright. It lasted only a few seconds but I had wait for my retinas to get used to the dimness of the dungeon before I could see anything.

Nico let go of my hand and collapsed on his back again, breathing heavily. His brow was slick with sweat and he was panting heavily.

And in my hand, sat a Pearl.

It looked exactly like the replica in my pocket except it was slightly bigger in size. The rich purple color pulsed powerfully within the orb and I stared at it mesmerized, feeling the power vibrating through my veins.

'Nico,' I whispered horrified, '_what have you done?_'

'Put it away.' He said tiredly, 'if she can't see it, she can't sense it.'

Feeling as though I'd just been granted nuclear weapon access codes, I shoved the ball into my inner jacket pocket. It sat against my heart and I could feel the pure energy it radiated travelling up my spine and into the tips of my fingers.

'She'll _know _you've given it to me—'

'She won't.' He cut me off brusquely. 'She wasn't even sure if I had it.'

'But she's been at you for a week..'

'… in the hopes that I did have it. She's been operating on a rumor.' Nico finished and raised a hand to push the hair out of his eyes.

'Why're you giving this to me?' I demanded, very aware of the responsibilities that came with what I'd just been handed.

'Because I can't fight anymore.' Nico stated brokenly and two tears dripped down his nose, 'you don't understand. I can't fight the temptation—if she asks one more time Annabeth, I won't be able to resist.'

'What makes you think _I _can?' I asked furiously, 'she's threatening my family… and Percy, _what _makes you think I can hold her off?'

Nico blinked and looked at me sadly. He reached out with his cuffed hand and grasped mine, our chains clinking together. 'Annabeth,' he began slowly, 'Percy was born of a broken promise.'

'I don't understand—'

'No matter what Gaia promises,' Nico interrupted me, 'his destiny will always remain terrible. Nobody can change it.'

I stared back at Nico, unwilling to listen further because I suddenly knew what he was trying to explain to me.

'Even if you give Gaia the Pearl, you won't be able to protect Percy from his fate. Nobody can.' Nico bent his head towards the ground as though the sheer weight of the words he'd just said was taking a toll on him.

'I'm sorry.' He whispered softly, 'I'm sorry but this burden is yours to bear.'

'No, Nico, I can't—'

'You have to!' He whispered fervently, 'you _have _to because _I can't_ anymore, Annabeth—I'm sorry, but I'm not strong enough.'

I stared at him; at his haggard features and the bottomless wells of despair that were his eyes.

'What has she promised you?' I asked, grasping his fingers tightly, in the hopes that he could draw courage from the human contact, 'what has she promised in return if you give it to her?'

Nico blinked and his eyes moved past mine to look into a distance. 'My mother.' He said quietly, 'and my sister.'

A heavy silence descended over his words and I couldn't help but feel admiration for him. Gaia had been torturing him _and _tempting him for a week and he hadn't given in.

At the same time, resentment flared in me. How did he expect me to succeed where he had failed? Would we have to keep exchanging the Pearl back and forth like some terrible game of passing the parcel? Every time Gaia vanished inexplicably would be equivalent to the music stopping?

'Nico, we have to—'

Pain.

Terrible pain.

My vision went white and I was flung into the air. My chained wrist burned as though a branding iron had been pressed against it. The effects of the poison multiplied tenfold and I could _feel _it eating its way through me.

My head split open and I could hear Nico's screams echoing with mine. Sheer agony tore through my chest when I hit the earth once more. I sunk through the mud around me and it tightened, loop by loop, like some sort of python. It squeezed my neck and I couldn't breathe, teetering on the edge of consciousness.

And then, just as suddenly, the pressure vanished.

I lay gasping on the cold floor, barely aware of anything. I didn't know who I was; I didn't know _where _I was. All I knew was that I was going to die—and I couldn't wait for it. Death would be a welcome release.

I don't know how long I stayed still. Slowly but surely, bits and pieces of me came floating back together from the vast oblivion where they'd been tossed, joining together to form the whole me.

I crawled forward a little bit and threw up whatever was left in my stomach. I hadn't consumed anything since the night by the campfire, whenever _that _had happened and the last thing I remembered drinking was coffee.

I could taste blood on my tongue and I spat that out as well before retreating a few paces and collapsing with a solid _thump. _

Eventually, I became aware of voices.

'…take her outside and heal her. It's vital she experiences moderate health before I start again. Only then will she submit.'

'Yes, mistress.'

Rough hands pulled me upright and my nostrils were assailed by a strange smell of blood and earth. My feet left the ground as the man –whoever he was– lifted me into an awkward hold before beginning to walk.

One of his hands pressed against my broken rib as he attempted to steady me and my body finally decided to call it quits before I could experience any more suffering.

The darkness descended immediately.

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes to find water dripping down my face. Strange sounds echoed around me and I had to blink several times before my vision focused. Almost immediately, I knew I wasn't in Gaia's prison anymore; the air felt different. I could hear the ring of metal being beaten into shape and distant yells in various languages.<p>

Another stream of water hit my face and I gasped, as the liquid shocked me out of the lethargy. My senses were almost overwhelmed with the barrage of information they were receiving—particularly from the pain receptors.

I blinked the water out of my eyes and stared at the man in front of me. I recognized him almost immediately; he was the guy who'd tossed Liam off the bridge.

'You have pretty eyes.' He said to me, and smiled. If his face hadn't been so sliced up, he might have been good looking, but the three parallel scars which ran down the side of his face ruined any vestiges the appeal he once would've had.

Even his smile was more of a cruel sneer and his eyes were those of a predator's.

'Drink.' He commanded and offered me a metal tumbler from which wafted the heavenly aroma of nectar.

I wanted to resist, but I didn't have it in me. My body was screaming from the punishment I'd received and I snatched the container away before he could withdraw the offer.

The nectar was like a soothing balm. Almost instantly, everything subsided and my head cleared. It cooled my throat and warmed my stomach, and the more I drank, the more I began to process everything.

I was on the outskirts of the camp; behind me was the curved wall of the large depression in which the camp had been set up. I was standing but only because the man held me upright against the wall, by a steady grip on my shoulder. His fingers dug into my flesh like pincers.

'Enough.' He said and seized the nearly empty container from my still weak grip. With his free hand, he reached into a pocket and took out several broken pieces of ambrosia.

'Eat.'

I hesitated; aware that too much of the godly food could cause me to burn up but then I felt the slow ache of the still advancing poison inside me and made the decision to stock up on anything that was available.

Besides, if I was going to defeat this guy without a weapon, I needed my strength.

The ambrosia traveled down my throat easily but left a hot flush in its wake. My senses were on overdrive –as though I'd just consumed large quantities of caffeine– and my right arm trembled, brimming with energy.

'I'm Lit.' The guy said to me and then appraised me carefully before adding, 'you're Annabeth Chase.'

I didn't bother with a response and instead tried to test the strength of his hand on my shoulder without giving anything away. I knew he was fast; I'd seen what he'd done to Liam and I had no wish of suffering the same fate.

'You should submit to my Mistress.' Lit told me, 'if you do, I will convince her to spare you.'

_Keep him talking, _I told myself, _anything to distract him. _

'I'm valuable to her.' Lit continued, 'she will not deny me such a simple request; all you must do is submit to her wishes.'

Without warning, he reached forward with his other hand and shoved at my chest. I felt an agony filled _click _as my rib bounced back into position, leaving me gasping. It was only when I felt moderately better that I realized that his hand was still on my chest.

I tensed, 'get your hand _off me._'

His eyes narrowed and his grip tightened painfully on my shoulder. 'Don't speak to me like that.'

Using my palms, I attempted to push myself off the wall behind me but Lit's sheer strength held me in place. His smile grew when he realized that I couldn't budge.

'Is it the scars?' He asked conversationally, 'is that what repulses you?'

With quick move, he let go of my shoulder and pressed his hand to my neck, forcing me back into the wall with his body weight. The pressure of his hand barely let me breathe and I wheezed, trying my best to get to the oxygen I so desperately needed.

He smiled at me but his eyes were cold and emotionless. He drew out a knife from a strap around his belt, using his free hand to bring it up to my cheek.

'Do you know how I got these scars?' He leaned forward and whispered into my ear. Both my hands were trying to pry his fingers off my throat but his grip remained steady. 'I got them from killing the people who dared to fight me.'

I felt his dry lips and hot breath on my neck but I couldn't move away.

'People used to mock me, you see, because of my lineage.' Lit hissed in my ear, 'they used to _laugh _at me when I practiced swordplay.'

I continued my struggle to no avail, barely able to inhale at all.

'They said a peasant's son couldn't be anything.' His hand tightened painfully and I swallowed back the reflex to gag. The cold tip of the knife touched my cheek.

'I showed them.' Lit laughed, 'I showed them _all._'

He drew back and brought his face close to mine, 'and I will show _you._'

The knife pressed in and a drop of blood appeared on the surface.

From above me, a heard a loud shout and Lit frowned, looking up to see what the ruckus was about.

The next second however, someone slammed into him. His grip around my neck slackened and I was able to push him off, drawing a deep, painful and much needed breath as he and the assailant went spiraling into the ground.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I totally stole that line from The Dark Knight but it seemed so appropriate that I couldn't resist. **


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Phew. Thirty chapters. It seems like I started this yesterday.**

* * *

><p><strong>30) I Experience A Twist In The Tale.<strong>

**Hazel**

Frank and I sat crouched, side by side, hands gripping weapons tightly while our eyes were kept peeled for anything out of the ordinary—anything that could upset the already paper thin escape plan.

We were behind one of the huge rock structures spread liberally around the walls of the camp: which was situated in the sunken area of "the Hive." The rock had a wide face but hardly any height which forced us to stay on our knees to remain relatively unseen.

Of course someone could catch sight of us from above should they have been walking past—but Leo had assured us multiple times that that was very unlikely.

Speaking of Leo, he'd found a little niche to hide himself, a little way from the jars of Greek fire. If all went according to plan, at the given signal from Frank, he'd shoot his bronze cannon (or "ba-zoo-ka" as Frank called it) and set up a nice distraction for Liam and Percy to slip in and get Nico and Annabeth.

I sat still, feeling sweat slide down the back of my neck and into my clothes. My hand trembled around the hilt of the knife Leo had given me in replacement for my lost _spatha. _Beside me, Frank had his back to the rock, keeping his eyes trained upward in case some spotted us.

If that did happen, Frank would release an arrow into the sky immediately as a signal for Leo to push forward the timing.

However, if everything went well, Leo would launch his bronze cannon in…

I checked the watch strapped to Frank's hand, twisting my head around so I could read it the right way.

… seven minutes.

I licked my lips, tension forcing my stomach into knots. Suddenly, I was glad I hadn't eaten anything in more than sixteen hours. I would have probably thrown it up otherwise.

I moved my hand to wipe the sweat off my palm before rewrapping my fingers around the hilt of the knife. I disliked the weapon immensely and I missed the length my _spatha _afforded me.

I'd had basic training in wielding a knife of course –every Roman was taught to fight with anything that was even remotely dangerous– but it didn't feel right to me.

Time ticked by slowly and I forced myself not to count the seconds. It was bad enough that I kept adjusting and readjusting the knife in my hand—I didn't need to succumb to full blown battle-nerves.

I snuck a look at Frank and saw his lips moving in inaudible prayer, an arrow twirling faster and faster between his fingers. I'd admired the way he made archery look so easy; how he rarely missed a short. I'd never been so good with anything in my life—both times over.

Except drawing maybe, but that didn't count for anything in the Roman way of life.

I glanced at Frank again and his eyes met mine of the briefest moment before moving back upwards to resume his task.

'Is something wrong?'

He asked at length, his voice barely above a whisper.

'No,' I replied, staring ahead. I could see a commotion happening near the black river but it didn't seem for a cause to worry. The monsters had probably disagreed over who was the smelliest of them all.

'Nothing's wrong.' I repeated, 'I'm just… I'm sorry. For everything.'

He was silent for so long that I began to wonder if he'd taken to ignoring me. Then, just when I was on the verge of glancing at him again he spoke.

'You should have told me.'

The pain in his voice was evident and for the umpteenth time that day I cursed Nico for bringing me back from the dead. I'd have been happy in The Fields of Asphodel.

I wouldn't have had to worry about past life regression and new love. All I'd have had to do was sit and watch eternity go by.

My brother and I were going to have words after he was rescued and we were on our way back to Camp Jupiter.

'I wanted to tell you,' I said truthfully, 'but I was scared. I didn't know… how you'd react. I didn't how _I'd _react.'

I winced internally after I said the words, it sounded like I was making excuses. Frank didn't say anything, content to sit in stony silence so I sighed and went back to keeping a look out...

...which was when I caught sight of the man who'd captured us, making his way across the camp at a steady pace, carrying Annabeth over his shoulder.

I swore, and Frank swiveled around, his shoulders tense. 'What?'

'We have a problem.' I muttered and raised one hand to shade my eyes. It was definitely our capturer walking towards us and he was most definitely carrying Annabeth. Which meant Nico was alone in the prison.

'Why's he brought Annabeth out?' Frank whispered.

'I don't know.' I answered, wanting to roll my eyes because honestly, how was I supposed to be privy to that information?

'We need to move closer.' I decided and slid my knife into the strap, peering over the rock to look for another suitable position where we could stay hidden and yet be close to Annabeth in case anything went wrong.

'What—? No! Hazel!' Frank tried to grab my arm but I wriggled out of his grip and began making my way down the slope. As soon I left the protection of the rock, I felt horribly exposed.

There was nothing but gently sloping land covered with a few blades of grass between where I was and where I wanted to go.

_Keep it together, _I instructed myself. _No one has a reason to look up._

Which was, technically, true. The camp was rather self-contained. Anything and everything the monsters or mortals needed was right there.

They didn't have a reason to wander too far from it. I figured the trip our capturer had taken with the Dracanae to welcome us had been a little out of the ordinary.

I slithered down the slope some more, using my hands and feet to propel me forward inch by inch. For a brief moment, I wondered what was going to do happen to my clothes once I was done with the quest.

They'd been abused thoroughly in the past two days. Using them to line Hannibal's bed seemed like the only productive thing they could be used for.

The sharp blades of grass scratched at my hands but I ignored them and made the last few feet to enter the protected area behind the rock I was aiming for. Once I settled down beside I realized how dangerously close I'd come to the camp—a fact only underlined more when I heard sounds of grunting only a few feet away.

I crawled to one side and risked a peek.

A little below my position was the curly head of the guy who'd captured us. He was bending down and when he straightened up, he had a bottle of water in his hand.

Something touched my leg and I nearly yelped out loud, twisting quickly so I could free my arm to use my knife. Thankfully, it was only Frank. He'd followed me, though he didn't look too pleased about the move.

I drew a finger to my lips as he joined me against the wall and he nodded once to show that he'd understood. Even the slightest of sounds now, could blow the entire plan sideways.

I heard somebody –Annabeth I think– gasp from the other side of the rock. I was just about to risk another look when Frank grabbed my shoulder and pointed to my left urgently. His face was tight with worry.

I turned my head to see what he was pointing at and nearly let loose a gasp of my own: because, less than a hundred meters away, and crawling in a ditch that was on the same level as the rock I was huddled against, was Percy.

His mouth was set in a straight line and his eyes were focused in determination. In his hand, he held his sword—thankfully still in pen form. It was a miracle that nobody had spotted him but then again, he was being exceedingly careful.

His movements were slow and rhythmic and he's smeared mud all over his clothes so that he could blend in with his surroundings.

'Isn't he supposed to be with Liam?' Frank said in my ear, his body pressing close to mine in an effort to be as quiet as possible.

Despite the direness of the situation, I felt butterflies explode in my stomach. I turned my head slightly to answer him. 'He is, but he must have spotted the guy…' Suddenly, I remembered Leo mentioning the name to me, '.. Lit, carrying Annabeth out.'

Frank's eyebrows angled downwards, 'this is not good.'

From behind the rock, I could hear Lit's rough voice clearly. '… Annabeth Chase.'

I glanced back at Percy, unable to decide what to do. The signal was still a good four minutes away. What if Lit hurt Annabeth by then? What if Percy decided to take matters into his own hands by then?

'.._ off me!_' I heard Annabeth's enraged tone and flinched. Deciding that I had to see what was going on; I peered around the rock and saw Lit glaring. I couldn't see Annabeth because of the angle but the angry glint in Lit's eye made it clear that he hadn't taken her rejection too well.

'Don't speak to me like that!' He growled and my neck prickled in a subconscious reaction to his threatening tone.

Swiftly, I looked back at Percy. He wasn't moving; instead his eyes were fixed with absolute hatred on Lit. He muttered something to himself, put his head down and increased his speed.

'Frank,' I breathed quietly, 'try and get Percy's attention. He's going to ruin everything.'

Frank nodded and began waving his hands discreetly.

'… Do you know how I got these scars?' Lit's snarl sent shivers down my spine and I looked again only to find him holding a knife in his hand. His expression was cold and his eyes were glimmering with suppressed rage.

'Got him.' Frank's tense whisper made me change direction and I looked around to find that Percy had spotted us. He was rather close—having covered the last few meters at a rapid pace, and was breathing heavily. His expression didn't change as Frank tried to tell him not to move, through sign language.

I patted my chest, and tried for a reassuring smile to show that Frank and I would handle Lit. Percy's eyes narrowed disbelievingly but he seemed to dither for a moment, torn between his desire to let us take charge and beat Lit to pulp himself for making a move on Annabeth.

Percy chewed his lip, obviously not knowing what to do when Lit laughed. All three of us (Frank, Percy and I) froze.

'I showed them _all_.'

There was a moment of tense silence and when I looked back, Percy was beginning to rise from his position, his face set in a mask of absolute hatred.

'And I will show _you…_'

I was just processing Lit's words, wondering if it was time to make a move when Frank, shouted, ruining any chance of keeping ourselves hidden.

'Percy, don't!'

But it was too late. Percy went diving into Lit, disappearing from sight all together. I scrambled to my feet, sliding out my knife, my brain working a mile a minute.

'Frank, shoot the arrow!' I called over my shoulder, climbing the rock so I could get a good view on what was going on. Several hundred meters away I saw a couple of monsters turn in surprise when they caught sight of me. I ignored them and looked down; they could be dealt with later.

Percy and Lit were rolling on the ground, each trying to best the other. Annabeth lay crumpled at the foot of my rock and for all intents and purposes, she didn't look too alive.

But that wasn't the biggest problem. A few yards away, a group of monsters, comprising of the mammoth specimens that had chased us to the Lethe had noticed us and were beginning to charge.

I jumped down, feeling woefully useless with my small knife and grabbed Annabeth's shoulder, hoping to get her to safety. Horns were beginning to sound in alarm all over the camp as the Bear men neared Lit and Percy, who were still going at it like wolves.

My heart stopped.

Percy wouldn't be able to take on Lit _and _the monsters on his own but I was too far away to help. Plus, I'd Annabeth would be defenseless if I left her side.

The first monster reached down to grab hold of Percy… until he exploded into a pile of gold dust. The other three turned in surprise and got picked off one by one as arrows came shooting down from above me.

_Good old, Frank. _

I thought to myself and reached down to help Annabeth up. Her breaths were coming short and fast and she looked a little dazed but she seemed to recognize me almost at once.

'Hazel..' she choked, but then looked past me, her expression widening in terror.

I turned as well, just in time to see Lit kick Percy off and scramble towards his knife which lay dropped on the floor.

'No…' I said, already beginning to move but time seemed to slow down and I couldn't get my legs to work fast enough.

Percy pushed himself off the ground and leaped, hoping to hit Lit and throw him off balance but the latter was faster. With the toe of his boot, Lit flipped the knife into his hand, spun around and thrust the blade upwards just as Percy landed on him.

Even from the distance of a few feet away I heard Percy gasp as the knife went through him.

'NO!' I yelled.

Lit grinned brutally and threw Percy off him. His eyes found mine and he crouched into a predatory pose, setting himself for the next attack.

He didn't get the chance; an arrow sliced through the air and hit him in the temple. He was dead before he hit the ground.

'Percy!' I called desperately, just as across the black river, a thunderous explosion occurred. The force of it lifted me off my feet and threw me back into the wall behind. My head hit the rock with so much force that for a moment I had to struggle to remain conscious, fighting off the whitening edges of my vision.

I slid to the floor, dazed and confused. A cacophony of sounds assaulted my ears from all directions. Heat burned against face and when I opened my eyes the only thing I could see for a few moments was smoke.

'Hazel!'

Frank appeared and caught my outstretched hand, pulling me to my feet. I hung on to his arm, sure that if he let go I'd collapsed again. The billowing smoke stung my eyes and made them water. I coughed, feeling the back of my head beginning to throb viciously.

I looked up and a terrible sight met my eyes. All I could see was an eerie green glow and indistinguishable shapes moving rapidly in the haze, calling plaintively for assistance. A monster staggered out from the smoke.

It was a Dracanae and her snake tail was on fire. Within seconds, she'd turned into ash and the fire began spreading across the ground, burning the mud black.

All of a sudden, I remembered what had just happened.

I whipped around, ignoring Frank's shout to be careful. My eyes fell on Lit's still body and even in death he had the ever present sneer stuck on his face. I averted my eyes quickly and found Annabeth, bending over an equally still body on the ground.

'Percy!' I coughed and struggled over to him. As I neared, my spirits fell. Only the hilt of the knife could be seen and when I dropped to my knees next to Annabeth, I saw the blood pouring out of the wound.

'Percy…' I whispered, unable to fully accept what had just happened. His eyes fluttered open and his mouth moved but nothing except more blood leaked out.

'Six minutes.' Annabeth muttered to herself, her hands moving quickly over Percy's torso. She was attempting to staunch the blood flow but there was too much for her to do.

'Punctured lung, broken rib…' She recited, and tears rolled down her cheeks in despair. I watched paralyzed, the sounds of dying monsters and mortals seeming like a distant tune in the background.

'Annabeth—' I tried, not even sure of what I was going to say but she cut me off.

'Hazel.' She put one hand on Percy's chest, directly over his heart before looking up to meet my gaze. 'We have six minutes, Hazel. _Six_ minutes before he dies.' She blinked and I saw fierce determination in her eyes.

'If you have an escape plan,' Annabeth continued not even bothering to move her hands away from the seeping wound, 'now's the time to get it together.'

An escape plan.

Of course we had one.

The question was could it work in six minutes?

I was on my feet in a flash, my thoughts already pushing away the notion of Percy dying and focusing on how we were going to get out.

_Arion come to me_. I thought desperately, shielding my eyes against the smoke and attempting to look for the chariot Leo had singled out for our use. If that was burnt then there was nothing I could do.

My eyes went passed melted weapons and piles of ash, past screaming monsters and armored mortals, past the raging fire which was slowly advancing, past—

_There!_

The chariot was, miraculously, still in shape. For whatever reasons, the flames of the enchanted fire were travelling across the earth in waves. The chariot was safe, but the fire was covering the ground around it rapidly. I had to move quickly.

'Frank!' I yelled, 'stay with Annabeth. Help her with…'

I couldn't finish the sentence but Frank understood anyway. I stooped and picked up the little knife which I'd been given. Holding it my hand, I began to pick my way across the camp.

The chariot wasn't far; in fact it was less than fifty meters away but I had stay clear of the Greek fire. The heat from it came off in shimmering waves, making my skin itch. Twice I wandered too close to it and had to jump away before I got burned.

The people running past me didn't help either, they were shrieking in pain and attempting to pat the burning bits of hair and flesh off themselves.

_Arion! _I was screaming the words quite loudly in my head; _I need you to come to me!_

I reached the chariot and began slicing the ropes around it. It'd been tied up securely and several times I had to cut off entire knots to make the process faster.

A shadow fell on the gleaming bar in front of me, and I dived to the right on instinct. A moment later, a sword came crashing down on the side, sparks flying as metal hit metal. I was on my feet in a trice, holding out my knife like I'd been taught.

The sword belonged to a mortal who was covered completely in armor. He was also huge, towering a whole foot over me. I swallowed the fear rising in my throat and tried to remember the instructions for fighting with a knife.

A shorter length blade always requires the wielder to get up close and personal (unless it is to be thrown) but I didn't want to get any nearer to the armored fellow. One knock from his fist could send me into a cold stupor.

He feinted to the left but I managed to keep my nerves intact and didn't fall for the maneuver, instead catching the actual blow with the hilt of my dagger. The vibrations from the blow went all the down my arm and into my shoulder, jarring it painfully.

_ARION! I need you! _

I disengaged and managed to push the mortal off, but he regained his balance and struck again, this time landing a glancing blow just below my collar bone. Pain tore through me, and I switched the knife to my left hand, knowing very well that I wasn't even close to ambidextrous.

The mortal took a quick step forward, forcing me back. He raised his sword in what would have been a fatal strike, except a hammer connected with the left side of his head, sending him toppling over the edge of the chariot in a second.

Holding that hammer and grinning crazily was Leo.

'Need a hand?' He asked, and hopped down to join me.

I didn't answer; too busy trying not to throw up. My knees were weak and my hands were trembling. I wanted to stop time and curl into a ball till the jitters faded but around me, the fire was still gaining ground and Percy was still dying.

'Leo,' I said thickly, 'we don't—'

'Just a sec.' He called over his shoulder and began tinkering with the chariot. Suddenly, it began to move, the wheels churning through the mud as though they had a life of their own.

'Watch out!' I yelled, as the chariot passed dangerously close to a burning mortal.

'On it!' Leo hollered and gave a quick twist to the control he was holding. The chariot skidded and I was flung to one side. The knife slipped from my fingers and went over the edge but I didn't care; it wasn't like I was particularly fond of it anyway.

_Arion. _I thought tiredly, watching the glowing images rush past me and feeling as though I was in a dream. _Please, come. Please._

The chariot stopped with a jerk and I blinked, realizing we'd reached the others. Leo's grin melted off his face when he caught sight of Percy.

'What…' He stuttered, 'no, Percy, no!'

I climbed off, feeling the last vestiges of hope fade away. Percy's eyes were closed and blood soaked his entire shirt as well as Annabeth's hands which were still trying, desperately, to contain the outflow.

His chest rose and fell minimally.

An impatient neigh sounded and from the rock above, a beautiful horse jumped over our heads, nearly crashing into the chariot as he landed. I stared, unable to believe my eyes; completely sure I was dreaming till Frank let out a whoop of joy.

'Let's leave!'

A familiar shout reached my ears and out of the smoke, Liam appeared, narrowly missing the spreading fire. He had soot spread all over his face but otherwise he looked all right. Something, however, was wrong.

'We have to leave!' Liam announced nearing us. His gaze fell on the ground and his eyes widened. 'Percy..?'

'Where's Nico?' I asked suddenly, looking around everywhere and wondering if Liam had stashed him inside Barbie Prime.

'Get Percy on the chariot!' Annabeth yelled, gesturing at Frank and the guide to help lift the prone body. Liam stared back at her, confusion written all over his face. 'We can't…, he won't survive—'

'The Styx.' Annabeth interrupted refusing to even look at any of us in the eye, 'if we get him to the Styx in two minutes, he has a chance.'

'But—'

'_Where's Nico?'_

Everyone's heads turned to me and I looked into the smoke, hoping for the familiar pale face to show but I couldn't see anything except for monsters and melting rock. The Greek fire was steadily drawing near and I could already feel my skin beginning to burn.

'Hazel..' Liam whispered, 'I'm sorry…'

'Where is he?' I repeated, refusing to believe that after coming so far, after going through everything that we had, my brother wasn't with us.

'He's gone.' Liam stated so quietly that I barely heard him over the yells behind us. 'Gaia's taken him—I don't know where. I was too late.'

'No.' I said, and took a few steps forward towards the advancing flames. 'No, he can't have gone—he can't. _No!_'

Strong arms caught me, preventing me from moving any further. I struggled against them; I was not leaving Nico behind. I couldn't. He was the last bit of family I had left—he couldn't have just disappeared.

'Let me go!' I screamed but the arms were too strong and they lifted me off my feet, dragging me away from the vicious tongues of fire. 'I can't leave him!'

'Hazel, listen to me!' Leo's voice drowned out my yells and his face was suddenly right in front of mine. 'He's not there Hazel—'

'No!' I screamed back, 'He's my _brother. _I'm not leaving him!'

'Hazel, _he isn't there!' _Leo grasped me by the shoulders, forcing me to look at him. He wasn't grinning anymore; in fact he had tears in his eyes.

'I'm so sorry.' He whispered, 'but if we don't leave now, Percy is going to die.'

'Nico…' I said brokenly.

'We'll find him.' Leo said, his eyes glinting in determination. 'I promise you, we _will _find him. But not today, Hazel. Not today.'

I looked at him, seeing Sammy in every feature of his: the rough fingertips gliding over my cheeks, the slightly crooked mouth, the intense stare.

'We have to go Hazel.' Liam's deeper voice broke in, 'and only you can guide us.'

I looked over into what was once Gaia's war camp, one last time. Only ash remained; every piece of wood, stone and metal had burned down. Monsters had disintegrated and mortals had been burnt. Nothing was left—alive or otherwise.

_Nico.._

I brushed away my tears to look Leo in the eye, 'you have to help me. I can't navigate Hephaestus Way.'

Leo didn't blink, 'I'm right beside you.'

I turned away from him and to Arion. Frank had already attached the harness to the horse and was sitting in the chariot. He and Annabeth who was sitting beside him, were bending over Percy's body. She was whispering expletives and he was muttering prayers.

I swung myself on to Arion and I felt him hum in approval. The fire was only a few meters away behind us and the chariot was beginning to melt from the heat. Leo got on behind me and slipped two arms around my waist.

_Nico…_

'Run, Arion.' I said at last, tears falling off my cheeks and into his mane, 'run.'


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Sorry, I've taken so long with this. I got into a bout of writer's block which I've really had to struggle through. As a result, this may not be my best work. :/**

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><p><strong>31) I Ride the Highway To Hell<strong>

**Annabeth**

Percy had mentioned earlier that riding a chariot being pulled by the fastest horse in the world had been the most disorienting experience he'd ever had.

I couldn't blame him for classifying it under such a category.

If I hadn't been out of my mind with worry, I might've actually enjoyed the ride. The chariot was moving so fast that it seemed to have created its own little protected bubble of air, making the surroundings hazy with color.

Arion pulled us up steep canyons and across rickety bridges and twice, we were flung high into the air as he leaped across vast chasms.

And through it all, I held on to Percy.

Liam had, in a moment of extreme intelligence, tied one of Percy's hands to the bar of the chariot with a rope to prevent him from falling off. Even if the rope hadn't been produced, Percy falling off wasn't been on my list of worries; my grip on the front of his shirt was so tight that my nails had torn though the material and were now digging into his skin.

Next to me, Frank muttered line after line of Roman prayers, the separate words being lost into the wind roaring past us. Liam sat behind me, his head bowed and his eyes tightly closed.

Inaudible words formed on his lips from time to time and he'd turned absolutely white because he was so terrified. He'd also handcuffed himself to the chariot.

The surroundings raced by and the sounds of unknown monsters echoed behind us… and I kept counting down the seconds.

I'd said "six minutes" to Hazel in a moment of optimism. For all I knew; irreparable damage had already been done to his lungs. I had his blood all over my hands –literally– and clothes.

I brushed away the tears on my cheeks and concentrated on his beating heart. Despite all the mayhem around me I could feel the faint thump—and that gave me hope.

Sure, the blood being pumped by his heart was probably entering his lungs and suffocating him but hey, I had to look on the bright side, right?

I shut my eyes tightly, squeezing the tears out and forced myself to think clearly. Could Percy live? _Would _he live even if I got him into the Styx in time?

He'd told me that he'd barely survived the last time he'd gone in and now I was planning to throw him in, half conscious and nearly dead. What if he simply dissolved away—what if his last moments alive were filled with unbearable agony because of the Styx?

My breathing hitched as my mind wandered to another solution—something I'd been trying to actively not think about for the last few minutes.

I had two Pearls.

One of them of which could save Percy's life.

I could feel the weight of it against my heart, whispering to me. I _could _use it. It _would _save his life—of that I was sure.

I raised my free hand and put it to the pocket, feeling the hard bump of the Pearl, pulling insistently against my jacket. It pulsed beneath my fingers, reminding me of the sheer power it contained—reminding me that it was needed for higher purposes. I'd been confused before but it was pretty clear to me now.

The Pearl was going to be needed to defeat Gaia; I didn't how or when or why but I was sure of that much. It was too powerful to not be used.

Her rise was gathering pace, and soon it would become unstoppable. The Pearls –both of them– were going to be the weapons against her. I couldn't just use one of them to save a life…

_Or could I?_

Percy was integral to the Prophecy of the Seven. If he died, the prophecy would remain incomplete, therefore it would facilitate Gaia's rise anyway and destroy any chances of stopping her.

My fingers clenched around the Pearl as I struggled back and forth between the two options. Blood continued to seep through Percy's shirt, staining my hand a brilliant red.

Something on the tip of that knife was preventing the blood from clotting. I could add bleeding to death as well, on the list of various ways he might die. I felt sick looking at his vacant face, his grey complexion, and his still body.

My _best friend _was dying in front of me and I didn't know what to do.

It felt unreal. The whole situation felt like a dream. The wind rushing past me, Frank's incessant prayers and Liam's pitiful whimpers, the little rivulets of blood running past my hands and collecting on the floor of the chariot, along with the constant thudding of Arion's hooves.

_Make a decision, _I told myself, _make it now!_

On an impulse I slipped the Pearl out of my pocket and clutched it between my fingers. In front of me, Frank paused and looked me with wide eyes.

I ignored the growing incredulity on his face and contemplated the little ball in my hand. It glowed a brilliant purple, clashing horribly with the dark blood which was splattered all over the place.

The chariot swung haphazardly, but I didn't even blink. I felt like a rock; rooted and immovable. And also incredibly slow. Where was my famed Athenian intellect now?

The Pearl throbbed in my hand, mocking me and my inability to make a choice. I heard Leo yell, but it sounded far away, distant even—as though he existed in a different dimension. For a moment, I imagined everyone fading away. The floor of the chariot disappeared and Liam and Frank's voices vanished.

It was just Percy and me.

And Percy's blood and my Pearl.

_Not my Pearl, _I reminded myself fiercely. _I can't just use it, _the thought clashed with the other, stronger urge, which told me to unleash the life-saving power within the orb.

My fingers tightened around the glass and in my mind's eye I saw an explosion happening, an explosion from which Percy would emerge: _alive._

I blinked and the surroundings rushed back at me. Everything seemed to have come under a sharper focus. I could hear Frank's Latin and Liam's Greek—each mixing with the other till it seemed like a foreign language.

I could feel the awful stickiness of blood between my fingers and the faint, irregular beat as Percy's heart continued to beat against the odds—both killing and saving him.

I could taste the bitterness on my tongue; of all the times he'd been on the verge of death, I'd never been able to _not _decide on what to do.

In the back of her mind I heard my ninth grade science teacher calling out Newton's Third Law of Motion. I remembered that particular class clearly as though I'd only just walked out of the stuffy room.

_Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. _

If I used the Pearl and saved Percy, what other unforeseen consequences would crop up at a later date? But what if I didn't use the Pearl and Percy didn't survive the Styx—wouldn't that be equally harmful?

_Seven half-bloods shall answer a call…_

I was pretty sure there wasn't a replacement hero to just fill in if Percy didn't make it.

Leo yelled again, and I looked up, grateful for a distraction. Monsters and dead people seemed to zip past me. I could hear a deep boom as though a very large dog was barking. Up ahead –and growing closer every second– were the familiar black Walls of Erebus.

I was running out of time. I had to make a decision. Styx or Pearl?

_Styx or Pearl?_

I repeated to myself, hoping that saying the words out loud would give me some hidden insight. My palms were beginning to sweat and I was feeling dizzy. In my stomach, the poison sat like a coiled snake, waiting to strike as soon as the effects of the ambrosia and nectar wore off.

The chariot swerved again, snapping me out of the daze I'd descended into and I suddenly realized we were under attack. Arrows were flying across us, as well javelins and spears.

Frank and Liam were both crouching on the floor of the chariot and Leo was shooting fireballs, roasting anyone that got too near the horse. In one quick motion, I shoved the Pearl back into my pocket.

I got a brief glimpse of the Underworld: masses of beings, both dead and alive. Weapons were being drawn and scuffles had already broken out. The place seemed on the verge of a riot.

All at once, I heard a loud _crack _as though somebody's skull had just been whacked with a steel club. The chariot tilted dangerously and the entire frame shuddered. Acting on instinct, I snatched an arrow from Frank's quiver and sliced the rope which tied Percy to the chariot.

I was just in time.

Arion's harness broke and the chariot flipped; the wheels unable to keep up with the earlier momentum. The entire chassis was flung into the air, and for a moment, I was weightless.

My arm burned with the strain of holding on to Percy's deadweight (no pun intended) and when the world straightened again, I slid off the open end of the chariot, dragging Percy along with me.

It took me a moment to get my bearings. The Walls of Erebus were behind me, and the Styx in front. I dropped to my knees and checked on Percy. He'd thankfully fallen on his back so the knife was still pretty much in the same place. I put a hand to his chest—and my insides froze. I couldn't feel a beat.

'Take cover!'

I heard someone scream but I couldn't care less.

'No,' I whispered to myself, 'No, Percy. I haven't decided yet. _Goddamnit!_'

I hit his chest with my clenched fist and for one miraculous moment, I felt something flutter.

'Annabeth!'

Footsteps thumped on the ground and Liam appeared next to me, clutching his sword. I could see the tell-tale trail of gold dust—he'd already had to fight off a monster.

'Is he..?' Liam didn't finish and a sudden hail or arrows hit the ground a few feet away—kicking up plumes of dust and mud. Liam flinched and came down on his knees, trying to make himself a smaller target.

'Not yet.' The words sounded curiously unemotional as I watched the last vestiges of Percy's life fade. He had only seconds left now—if even. I didn't know if I was wasting borrowed time.

_Styx or Pearl?_

'Annabeth..?' I could hear the fear in Liam's voice. The sounds of an approaching army were getting closer. Five of us to hold off the entire wrath of the Underworld; my chances of survival weren't looking any better than Percy's.

_Styx. Or Pearl?_

For one moment, my fingers hovered near my pocket. Then I looked at Liam.

'I need your help.'

His eyes met mine, and I could see from his expression that he'd understood what was needed of him.

'You're sure?'

The poison in my stomach burned ferociously and another bout of dizziness struck me. I cleared my throat and looked back at Liam, hating the words as I said them.

'Yes.'

He didn't need another answer. He shifted his sword to the other hand, bent down and grabbed Percy's left arm. I copied his movements and grabbed the right arm. Together, we straightened and began hauling the body towards the black river in front of us.

More shouts. More yells. More arrows. The hordes of enemies were nearly upon us. I should have been thinking about strategies and plans; figuring out how we were going to survive the onslaught but all I could see were Percy's closed eyes. I could imagine the betrayal they were holding, asking me: what was I doing?

Our footsteps quickened, and we moved faster. The Styx appeared in front of me, looking unforgiving. Steam rose from the surface and I tried not to think of all the legends I'd read of it; how it burned the very essence of somebody's identity away.

Ten Meters.

Five.

We'd reached.

For one second I hesitated and the Pearl pulsed in my pocket. In my mind's eye I saw Percy grinning at me, after the fiasco of our first date. The gleam in his eye, his annoying grin—all of it stood out. I could _feel _the way he'd grip my arm whenever he attempted to get me to stay for a few more minutes, usually making me cut it dangerously close to my Boarding school's curfew.

I could see it all; the unwavering way he'd watch me whenever I was in his vicinity, his annoying habit of calling me every time I had to get a meal, the rather conspicuous way he blushed whenever his Mother walked in on us.

The taste of his lips and the echo of his laugh.

I blinked and it all vanished. Instead Frank's shouts reached my ears—a battle was waiting to be fought.

With one heave, Liam and I pushed Percy into the Styx.

He disappeared without a sound. One moment he seemed to hang in mid- air, not quite on the ground, not quite in the river and the next he'd gone.

I stood breathing heavily, still completely unsure of what I'd just done. I was just beginning to realize the enormity of the decision that I'd taken when Liam's voice broke into my thoughts.

'Either you've just killed him or you've just saved his life. Whichever the case; it's out of your control now.'

I turned to the guide and found him with a rather familiar dagger in his hand.

'Found this in Gaia's cave,' Liam continued, holding it out to me, hilt first, 'figured I'd pick it up for you.'

I accepted the knife and closed my fingers around it in a well practiced grip. I spun it in my hand and turned my back on the river. It was time to kill a few monsters.


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: Well. I hope this satisfies you guys.**

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><p><strong>32) I Crave Fast Food.<strong>

**Percy**

There's something about getting stabbed that puts the stranger things of your life into focus. I mean, here I was, dying –so to speak– and all I could think about was how I'd never be able to have another cheeseburger again.

Don't get me wrong, I was also doing the whole, "I'm never going to see my family again," or "there were so many things I still wanted to do—like sky diving" complaints but for some reason my mind remained fixated on the damn cheeseburgers from Le Meridan.

Of course, you're probably wondering about how I knew I was dying.

Well; the fact that I couldn't breathe or blink without screaming in pain kind of gave it away. My memory up to getting stabbed by wannabe Scarface was crystal clear… after that it became a little fuzzy. All I could see now were lots of brightly colored spots (more red than anything else—was that a sign?) and flying cheeseburgers.

I wanted to reach out for them but for some reason by arms weren't responding to my commands. I couldn't move at all, and the more I tried, the worse the pain got.

Then, after a while, it seemed as though the pain had morphed into something else all together. Now it was coming from all sides, like icy fire, burning my skin from the tips of my toes all the way up to my eyelids.

As it advanced, it got stronger and stronger, and suddenly the ache in my chest felt like a stubbed toe instead of a life-threatening wound.

Panicking, I attempted to move and wonder of wonders, I felt my arms respond. The heavy dreamlike trance I'd descended into was lifted off and my sensory receptors woke up from the slumber they'd been forced into because of the lack of oxygen.

Screaming soundlessly, I clawed at my face, hoping that I could brush off whatever substance was roasting me alive.

The flames went up my back, scorching my spine and the sheer knowledge that I was going to die, alone and without a cheeseburger awoke some primal instinct inside my head.

A memory floated to the surface of my mind and jolted me out of the terrified haze I was operating under.

I'd been burned like this before; I'd even been suffocated like this before. The feeling of dissolving identity; it had happened to me before.

_A blessing once given remains a blessing._

The words –intricately carved into a fountain I'd sat on barely two days ago– flashed in front of my eyes and with them I saw my mother. She'd given me her blessing once, so many months ago—why would I need it again?

My lungs shuddered for air and I had to fight down the reflex to take a deep breath. My hands clenched and I curled into a protective ball, trying to lessen the agony.

I opened my eyes, hoping that it would help me figure out where I was but my vision was covered by something that was pitch dark. I wanted to scream—but I had no air. I wanted to call for help—but I had no voice. I wanted to live—but I had no life.

Something fluttered in front of me and I reached out, wondering if I was going to see a white light. Instead, another scene materialized in front of me—surroundings I knew very well.

Long Island Sound.

And two people sitting on the beach overlooking it.

It took me a moment to realize that one of them was me. It took me even longer to realize that the person next to me was Annabeth and it took me a whole minute to realize that the image was a memory playing out in front of me like a movie.

'_So what happens when we grow up?' Percy asked, stretching and looking entirely relaxed despite the fact that he had sand in his hair._

'_What d'you mean?' Annabeth didn't even look up because she was too busy sketching out a design on a notepad resting on her knees. Beside her lay a calculator; an impossibly large number just visible on the screen. _

I blinked, hoping the image would get clearer but the two figures stayed a little off-focus as though the person videotaping the conversation had forgotten to lower the exposure.

'_You know, what happens when we become old—adults, so to speak.' Percy grabbed a handful of sand and let it slip between his fingers, forming a thin spiral which connected his fist to the ground. _

_This time, Annabeth's gaze left her work. Her brow was furrowed in thought, 'Yeah… so, we become adults.' She stated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, 'we find jobs and get married and have kids—until we die. It's the circle of life.'_

I looked at the two figures, unable to reconcile with the fact that this conversation had happened so many months ago. It'd been the first day of the Winter Break and I'd been so excited—until I'd had a moment of unexpected introspection.

'_Yeah, I know..' Percy said and he brushed the excess sand off his fingers before running them through his hair. '.. it just seems so…' He paused, unable to think of a word but Annabeth spoke, finishing the sentence for him, 'so mundane?'_

I couldn't feel my fingertips any more but that didn't seem important. This conversation was important—it was reminding me of something; something I'd missed all those months ago.

'_Exactly!' Percy nodded and shifted closer to Annabeth. _

I winced; I thought I'd been real subtle then. Now that I was looking at myself, it was the most obvious thing I could have done.

_Annabeth studied the boy next to her, trying very hard to figure out where he was going with the conversation. Giving up, she sighed, 'what's your point, Percy?'_

I could feel the words on the tip of my tongue and at the same time I wondered how I could've let this particular memory get buried amongst all the others. Then again, back then, it had all been peaceful; I hadn't really felt the consequences of the words I'd said.

_Percy grabbed another handful of sand. 'I just—I don't think I want to die when I'm old and unable to walk or talk. That'd be boring.' _

_Annabeth frowned, evidently understanding everything in that moment. 'You're saying you want to die a hero?'_

_Percy shrugged, 'I want to die doing something worthwhile. I want to do something good in life—something to be remembered for.'_

_Annabeth didn't look pleased. 'You've already saved Olympus. What more do you want?'_

I wanted to go back into the past and punch myself. Really, what more had I wanted? It had been such an inconsequential conversation—hadn't we all had those that at some point? Said things without really meaning them?

_Percy seemed a little confused by the direct question. Finally, he answered as honestly as he could. 'I don't know. I … don't know what I want.'_

I nodded, forgetting that neither of the two figures could see me. By this time, I'd lost sensation all the way up to my hips.

_Annabeth turned away and went back to her work, her expression faintly worried. After a couple more minutes of adding layers, she muttered, 'just don't die without doing this worthwhile thing, okay? 'Cause that would really suck.'_

That was it. The kicker. That was what I was trying to remind myself. I couldn't die just yet—I had things to do. I had a world to save –again– and people to keep promises to. A surge of energy rippled through me and the pain lessened a little.

_Percy grinned and flicked sand at his companion, 'why, would you miss me?'_

_Annabeth snorted, 'you wish.'_

The image blurred completely out of focus and the last thing I heard was my own laugh before it winked out of existence. I opened my eyes, and looked into the blackness knowing exactly where I was and who I was.

_Percy, I give you my blessing._

I was a son.

_Be safe, brother!_

I was a brother.

_Enchiladas! _

I was a best friend.

_Hold on Seaweed Brain, you're not getting away from me that easily._

I was Percy Jackson; Hero of Olympus.

It was like an adrenalin rush. Everything in my body awakened, screaming for the chance to live. I felt a very familiar tugging sensation and I maneuvered it around till it was positioned on one very special spot on the small of my back. It pulled me upward and the black water moved with me, forming a protective cocoon.

_A blessing once given remains a blessing. _

I burst out of the river, riding on a steadily building tidal wave. Air rushed into my lungs, breathing life into me and I opened my eyes feeling more alive then I'd ever felt before. The Styx bubbled beneath me, eager to be commanded. I held it in check easily; I hadn't felt this strong in months.

My eyes adjusted immediately to the change in light. Below me, a battle was being fought. A sea of monsters covered the stretch of land between the Walls of Erebus and the banks of the Styx.

Marooned in between them, were my friends; isolated and fighting a losing battle. They were on the verge of getting overwhelmed—nobody could fight so many at once.

I let go of the Styx.

It rushed out, eager to consume everything in its path. However, like the good friend that I was, I gave it very specific instructions. It couldn't touch the six demigods, everything else, was fair game. The Styx complied with my wishes and proceeded to vaporize everything else on that little stretch of land.

In less than five seconds, the monsters had disintegrated into little piles of gold dust. The waters went all the way up to the gates (where they sizzled a few skeletons) and then came rushing back once I'd decided they'd had too much fun.

I stepped on to the bank and immediately went down on one knee, too dizzy to stand properly. The brief moment of invincibility I'd felt faded and it left me feeling a little winded.

I put a hand to my ribcage, convinced I was going to find a knife there but my fingers only ran over a rough bump in my skin. I peered down my shirt and saw the edges of a ropy scar, embedded into my chest.

I exhaled, and in the back of my mind I wondered if marathon runners often felt like this.

An arm gripped me, helping me steady myself and a familiar voice spoke into my ear, 'we're going to have a long conversation about this.'

I grinned despite the exhaustion I felt and looked at Annabeth. Her face was tilted to one side but her grey eyes met mine and I could see the worry bubbling under the surface. She had monster dust in her hair, making it glitter even more in the dim light.

'I'd say we're about quits.' I whispered back.

She rolled her eyes and I stood up, blinking away the head rush. Vapor rose from the ground in front of me and not a single soul –except for my friends who came sidling to my side looking a little awed– could be seen. I couldn't even hear Cerberus' booming bark.

'Everyone okay?' I asked.

Frank looked at me dubiously, 'we're fine. Are you sure you're…?'

'Alive?' I finished, and I couldn't help but grin at his rather queasy expression. 'Oh yeah; I've done this before.'

My gaze went over the rest of them and it was only when I saw the tear tracks on Hazel's cheeks did I realize something was amiss. Even then it took me a while to put everything together.

'Where's Nico?'

My question hung in the air and everyone looked away—refusing to meet my gaze. Hazel sighed and raised a hand to brush away some more tears.

'I couldn't get to him in time.' Liam said quietly, breaking the tense silence. I glanced at him, taking in his appearance properly. He looked about as bad as the others but I saw something in his eyes –guilt– that I hadn't expected.

'So he's…?' I couldn't bring myself to finish the question as the crushing weight of failure descended on my shoulders.

'He's alive.' Liam said quickly, 'Gaia's taken him with her—I don't know why, though.'

'For the Pearl, obviously.' Hazel said and she sounded as though she had a bad cold.

'No.'

I looked sideways, at Annabeth. She didn't meet my gaze, preferring to look at the ground as she reached into the front pocket of her jacket and brought out a purple looking ball—the original Pearl. Even from a distance I could feel the sheer power held within the orb; it made my skin crawl.

'He gave this to me.' She stated and I could hear the guilt in her tone as well.

There was a brief silence as Hazel processed that. 'When did this happen?'

Annabeth seemed unwilling to answer, 'in Gaia's prison. He said he couldn't keep it any longer.'

I blinked, forcing myself to think properly. I remembered Annabeth being taken out by Scarface and a couple of Dracena. What I hadn't known was where they'd taken her.

Why had Gaia wanted an audience with her specifically? I looked at Annabeth and she caught my eye, giving me an imperceptible shake of her head. She'd answer my questions later.

I glanced away and looked at Hazel. She seemed at a loss for her words and she kept turning around as though she wanted to march back into the Underworld and rescue her brother.

I felt guilt bubble inside me as well; I should have listened to her and let Frank and her deal with Annabeth's capturer. My brilliant heroics might have just cost Nico his life.

'Hazel..' I croaked, feeling incredibly worn and tired, 'I am so sorry.'

She sighed and didn't answer and the unbearable silence descended over us again. I didn't know what to say. I'd come, all the way to the Underworld, with only one objective in mind: to rescue Nico.

Now Gaia had snatched him away and taken him to unknown destinations, possibly shortening his lifespan in the process. It seemed unreal that I'd actually _failed_ a quest.

_You didn't fail, _a snide voice inside my head –which sounded remarkably like Vulcan–reminded me, _you got the Curse of Achilles. _

I cursed inwardly and looked at my skin. It looked raw as though someone had made me roll around on a very rough carpet but otherwise seemed fine. I could feel my mortal point pulsing with life under my shirt.

'You should leave.' Liam said suddenly, breaking the tension. 'The Underworld isn't safe for you all anymore.'

I looked at the guide, not wanting to believe his words. We couldn't just _give up _after coming so far. Still, I knew he was right. I didn't know where Nico was. The priority had now shifted to getting back to Camp Jupiter as quickly as possible.

'What will you do?' I asked, suddenly remembering that I owed a lot to the guy. He'd come back to break me out and by the looks of things he'd also helped fight off a lot of other monsters.

Some part of me _still _didn't trust him but I couldn't help but feel grateful—it wasn't often that a complete stranger put his life on the line for me and my friends.

'Stay.' Liam answered, his blue eyes looking like blank walls, 'this is my home. I can't just leave.'

'Won't they try and kill you?' Leo asked and I noticed that he sounded genuinely concerned as well.

'Probably.' Liam shrugged, 'but I can take care of myself.'

I thought of all the time he'd said that and I had to admit—he'd never been wrong even once.

'Thanks,' I said, suddenly feeling a little awkward, 'for everything. Really.'

Liam gazed at me and for a moment –just a single moment– he looked almost friendly. Then he blinked at the emotion was gone—though he did smile weakly.

'For a son of Poseidon, you aren't half bad, Jackson.'

I didn't know whether he was complimenting or insulting me so I kept my mouth shut and watched as Liam patted Frank on the solider.

'You did well, Zhang.'

Frank looked at him confusedly, 'I did?'

'You reminded me that heroes stand up for each other,' Liam said seriously, 'and that speaks of loyalty.'

Frank blinked, looking completely awestruck at the words as Liam moved on to the others. He seemed to dither around Hazel but eventually plucked up the courage and followed through with it.

'I am, truly sorry I couldn't get Nico out.' Liam said gently.

I waited with baited breath, wondering if Hazel was going to punch him. Instead, she did something that surprised me even more: she hugged him. Tightly. Liam stumbled backwards a little, clearly not expecting such a blatant show of emotion.

'You helped Leo and got us out.' Hazel said, once she'd released the guide, 'I should be thanking you.'

Liam nodded and patted her awkwardly. I saw the look of acute relief when he looked at Leo. 'Try not screw up again Valdez, I won't be around to help.'

Leo grinned and nodded, giving the guide a mock salute while I tried not to go for my weapon. Leo had promised me that there was an explanation for his behavior and I would get to hear it as soon as we were out of the mess. That had been back in The Hive. Clearly, I was going to have to wait a little longer.

Liam left Annaebth for the end and simply said, 'I'm glad Gaia didn't break you.'

Annabeth didn't smile. 'Me too.'

The guide turned to me and pointed to the right, 'about a mile down the river you'll find a boat. You should be able to get across using that.'

I nodded, 'got it.'

'And don't stop for anything.' He continued grimly, 'get into your car and get the hell out of here.'

I nodded again, not bothering to tell him that that was the plan I'd already decided on. Even with the Curse of Achilles, I didn't think I'd be strong enough to take on Gaia's wrath. And I had a feeling she was going to be feeling pretty wrathful.

Liam gave us all a final glance, 'hopefully I won't have to see you guys again.' He swiveled on his feet and took two steps when Annabeth stirred beside me.

'Wait.'

He looked around.

Annabeth put her hand into the front pocket of her jeans and pulled out the Pearl. For a second I thought it was the one Nico had given her l until I noticed its size; it was much smaller than the original.

'You don't have to give it to me.' Liam said, though I saw a flicker of interest in his eyes.

'I know,' Annabeth replied, 'but fair is fair. I don't need this anyway.'

She extended her hand and Liam clasped it, clearly familiar with the process. Once they were gripping each other's hands tightly Annabeth muttered just loud enough to hear, 'I give this you, Liam.'

The hands flashed bright blue and I very wisely looked away before the light burned my eyes. Annabeth let go of the guide's hand and backed away while Liam gazed at the Pearl –which was glowing purple– in his hand with an expression which looked almost like relief.

'Good luck.' I said and he nodded at me before turning around without another word and beginning his journey back. I watched him go hoping that his house hadn't been destroyed. He didn't deserve that.

'Well,' Leo said loudly, once Liam disappeared from sight. 'Let's get a move on, then?'

I narrowed my eyes at him, 'you have a lot of explaining to do.'

Leo gave me an edgy grin, 'as soon as we're in the car, I promise.'

I scowled but I had to acknowledge that he had a point. We couldn't hang around in the Underworld forever. I turned to the direction Liam had pointed out and rolled my shoulders, attempting to get rid of the stiffness I was feeling. 'C'mon then, start walking.'

Annabeth fell into step beside me, letting the others over take us as we began trudging along the bank. 'You're okay?'

I looked at her, wondering if I should mention how she'd all but saved me both the times I'd gone into the Styx. Eventually, I decided against it; I needed to hold on to every last shred of self respect I had. Besides, I couldn't keep her worried—she'd been through a lot more than she was letting on.

'I'm fine.' I said firmly, 'except for one thing.'

'Which is?'

I reached out and took her hand in mine, determined to try and show her how grateful I was that she was around without actually _saying _anything_, _'you wouldn't happen to have a cheeseburger in your pocket, would you?'


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Finished? Noo! Several more chapters to go. I have various plot-lines to wrap up. But yes, we are at the last third of the story.**

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><p><strong>33) I Realize I'm Terrible at Talking.<strong>

**Leo**

It took most of the journey out of L.A for me to complete me story—including all my dreams, the backpack I'd been given and my "conversation" with Gaia. I talked till my mouth ran dry and then I talked some more.

Through it all, I kept my eyes on the rearview mirror, mostly because I didn't want to look at anyone specifically and also because I was paranoid of Gaia's forces chasing after us.

It seemed incredible that after everything she'd threatened me with, we were being allowed to saunter back to Camp, along with one of the Pearl's she was after.

Eventually, I ran out of information to share. A heavy silence descended over the occupants of the car as mile after mile of highway zipped away under the tires.

Percy was driving just under the speed limit and his hands were locked around the steering wheel. Annabeth rode shotgun of course and Frank, Hazel and I were squashed into the back—which both Frank and I didn't take very well to.

Hazel couldn't seem to care less and sat between us, oblivious to the tension.

'You're accusing your own Father of changing sides.' Annabeth started, after no one else seemed willing to say anything to my explanation. 'Do you even know the implications of such a statement?'

'Yes.' I said emphatically, 'everything I've told you is true. He _told _me to do the things I did!'

Annabeth met my gaze in the mirror, and her expression was less than supporting. 'Oh, so this time it's the truth? I'm sorry Leo—I'm losing track of all the _truth _you keep telling us.'

The seconds passed after her sentence and the temperature in the car dropped by like ten degrees. I felt a hot flush creeping up my neck and I struggled to keep it together. It was important that they recognized the real threat before it was too late.

'Look,' I said evenly, 'I know it's been really screwed up but I swear to you, _none _of it was my idea. Hephaestus—'

'What did she offer you, again?' Annabeth interrupted, stopping me in mid explanation.

'I… what?' I licked my lips, thrown off track again.

'What did Gaia offer you?' Annabeth repeated, 'to let you go? What was the deal, Leo?'

My spirits sank. Up ahead, Percy hadn't moved a muscle, preferring to keep his attention totally focused on the road. Beside me, Hazel had her eyes closed and head tilted back. She looked asleep. Frank was looking out of the window but it didn't take a genius to figure out whose side he was on.

'She didn't give me a deal.' I said, knowing that my lie wasn't going to work—this was a daughter of _Athena _I was conversing with.

'Oh, right, she just let you walk out of her prison without a problem then.' Annabeth said, coolly, 'yes that _would _make perfect sense—seeing as you work for her and everything.'

Checkmate.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, unable to decide on what to respond with and feeling incredibly annoyed. Fine, I understood where all the hostility was coming from but at the same time I wanted to throw up my hands and point out that if it hadn't been for me, they would still be rotting away in that earthen maze. Didn't I get even a little credit?

'She offered me my mother.' I said looking down, 'and in return I have to sabotage _The Argo. _That was the deal.'

If I expected an outbreak of sympathetic noises, I was in for a rude shock. No one said a word. Even Hazel–and I'd thought we had _some _sort of connection at least– didn't look at me.

'You know what she offered me?' Annabeth said conversationally, and I winced at the blandness of her tone, 'she offered to not drag my family into the war if I gave her the Pearl. _That _was the deal I got.'

Percy flinched but otherwise didn't make a sound. Hazel, meanwhile, had opened her eyes but was staring straight up, as though she was envisaging escape routes through the gaping hole which Percy had cut out so long ago.

'I'm sorry—' I said, but Annabeth cut me off again, her grey eyes flashing dangerously.

'_Don't _tell me you're sorry, Leo. I promised Jason that I'd look out for you. _I _vouched for _you._'

The acid in her tone could have burned through a diamond wall. Even so, she broke off towards the end and gasped, ever so slightly. I would have probably missed it had it not been for Percy's quick glance to his side.

I gritted my teeth, and pushed away the rising feelings of guilt I was experiencing. Okay so Annabeth had been tortured because of me. Percy had nearly died because of me.

In all likelihood, even the failure to get Nico out in time was also my fault. Yes, I understood the consequences of what I'd done. But didn't they understand that I'd done it to protect _them? _

'I get it.' I said, forcing myself to look into the rearview mirror and meet Annabeth's cold stare. 'I do, I broke your trust—all of your trust,' I added, glancing around so Hazel knew I was talking to her too, 'and I am so sorry.'

Annabeth opened her mouth to argue but this time I cut her off, 'but I _didn't do it for Gaia. _I did it because my Father threatened me otherwise. Who d'you think sent those automatons?'

A stony silence met my remark but I plowed through nonetheless. 'I did it to help you guys and yes, I know it didn't help at all—but I had no other choice. But…' I paused and decided that it was now or never to take the plunge, 'if you still don't believe me, then stop the car right here. I'll get out.'

I waited, terrified that they'd actually call my bluff and I'd end up on the street in the middle of nowhere. A lone demigod is easy pickings for any monster roaming about (and I had a sneaking suspicion that they'd be lots of them) and all I had was a tool-belt to fend them off.

I had no place to go or no relatives to take me in—yep, I was in a pretty pickle all right.

'I'm not stopping the car,' Percy finally said after letting me sweat it out for a whole minute, 'so I guess you're staying in.'

I sighed in relief discreetly and leaned back into the seat. Already though I could feel my stomach knot in tension; what on earth was I going to tell Jason and Piper when we got back?

'Leo,' Percy called again, jostling me out of my thoughts, 'you're sure Hephaestus has turned?'

'Yes.' I answered without a moment's hesitation. 'His instructions were pretty clear—you all had to be captured.'

'Did he give you a reason?' Percy pressed.

I frowned, 'he said something about little cogs turning in a big machine.'

'He—_what?_'

I couldn't help but feel a little amused at Percy's tone. He seemed positively flabbergasted as though I'd handed him a differential equation to solve.

'Basically he said that it would help in the quest and to ultimately defeating Gaia someday.'

'And you still think he's working for her?' Annabeth asked, her tone lacking any emotion at all—except for the slight hint of weariness that my amazing ears detected.

I shrugged, 'he told me, _specifically, _to deliver you guys to Gaia. I think the conclusion's pretty obvious.'

'You said Vulcan spoke to you first.' Frank spoke from the window, still not bothering to look at me. I rolled my eyes at his back but answered the question anyway.

'Yep. Hephaestus came to me in the second dream.'

Frank turned away from the window but chose to look at the floor of the car instead of my face. 'So _Hephaestus _told you –specifically– to deliver us to Gaia?'

I felt my neck heat up again, 'yeah. What has that got to do with anything?'

Frank shrugged and went back to his window, refusing to answer. I stared at the back of his head, clenching and unclenching my hand to try and calm myself.

The guy had done nothing but contradict me throughout the quest and he hadn't even been injured because of my shenanigans (except for that one concussion but really that was my fault—he should have kept his feet steady) so why did he hate me so much?

'Are you implying,' I said through gritted teeth, 'that Hephaestus has turned but Vulcan hasn't? What, you think this is some big Greek conspiracy?'

Frank turned his head and looked me in the eye, 'you're Greek, aren't you?'

If it hadn't been for Hazel, I'd have probably reached across and punched the guy in the face. As it was, my hands became unusually warm and I had to concentrate harder to stop them from going off like little flares. By the time I got them back to room temperature, I felt much better.

'Well it isn't—Vulcan left behind notes for Hephaestus to read from. So yeah, they're in on it together.'

'Leo,' Percy said sounding half-strangled, after my words were met by a stunned silence, 'what did you just say?'

'It's complicated.' I huffed, looking out of my window as well. The scenery bored me and I took to counting the cars across the divider. Then because I wanted to change things up a little, I started counting only yellow cars.

You'd be surprised to know how many people own yellow vehicles these days—honestly; I went up to three digits in a _very_ short while.

'It's so hard to believe Hephaestus is working for Gaia.' Percy said after a while, breaking the hundredth silence we'd descended into.

'Why?' I asked, far too tired of the circles we'd been drawing around the discussion to actually care about Percy's opinion. I'd heard what I'd heard from my Father. There was no other way about it.

'Because…' Percy cleared his throat and I saw him shift uneasily in his seat, 'he well—he gave me some very good advice once and reminded me of a few things I'd forgotten.'

'Really?' I unstuck my cheek from the window and sat up, 'where were you?'

'On an island.' Percy replied shortly and he lifted a hand from the wheel to run through his hair, indicating an end to the conversation.

I sighed and went back to counting my yellow cars as the miles continued to melt away under the tires. It was already late afternoon and the sun had begun its descent from the highest point in the sky. We were on our way home.

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><p>I was half asleep when I heard Hazel speaking and the fact that she'd resurfaced from her self-imposed silence, made me wake up pretty quick.<p>

'…anywhere here would be perfect; I'm just really hungry.'

The word 'hungry' did it for me. My stomach gave me a little nudge and I decided to join the conversation. It had been _ages _since I'd last eaten and all the stress I'd gone through after that hadn't exactly left me feeling better. Even a demigod couldn't survive on ambrosia and nectar forever.

'Thank the gods, we're getting some food.' I muttered and shifted around only to discover that my leg had fallen asleep because of the strange angle I'd left it in.

'I don't think stopping is a good idea.' I heard Percy say as I rotated my foot around and winced when pins and needles began crawling up the limb. I ran my knuckles up and down the affected area, hoping it would help with the circulation.

'Please, Percy? Nobody's attacked us for the past three hours.' Frank complained from his side of the car. I made a mental note to remember that Frank wasn't all that pissing off—except for the times when he was _really_ pissing off.

'Yeah, true…' Percy mused to himself as I finally got my leg back into action.

'C'mon, man. I'm starving. I'm going to eat your headrest if we don't stop somewhere.' I said and Hazel gave me a weak grin—the first sign of life I'd seen from her ever since we got back into the car. Annabeth however didn't comment which left me wondering how long it was going to take for her to forgive me.

Honestly, I didn't care about Frank or even Percy –given that I'd only just met him– but I felt sick to the stomach that Annabeth had been tortured because of me. In her own way, she'd been looking out for me and I'd gone and screwed that up.

Percy sighed reluctantly, 'fine. There's a turn off somewhere here… aha.'

The road we got on to was considerably more bumpy than the smooth highway we'd been driving on. It went on for about a hundred meters and then did a sweeping turn and stopped in front of a convenience store which had trees lining the back.

The store itself was made from solid brick except for the doors –which seemed to be made from glass– and the two windows on either side. Through the doors I caught sight of the clerk; she was blonde (and I mean the kind of white-ish blonde) and _really _short, which, coming from me, was a lot.

'C'mon then,' Percy said, his tone bordering on paranoia, 'let's get this over with.'

Frank was the first to slide open his door and follow Percy through the store as though he couldn't wait to leave the space shared with me. Hazel, after a moment of hesitation, got out as well. I glanced at her and she gave me a weak smile which made me sigh in relief. I had one friend at least.

I opened my door and hopped out, nearly groaning with relief as all my overused muscles got a break from being in one position so long. I stretched mightily and it was only when I'd gotten the kinks out of my shoulder did I realize that Annabeth was still in the car.

I looked over to her and found her half bent over in her seat, her expression speaking volumes about the pain she was experiencing.

'Annabeth…!' I said hurriedly and opened her door with a quick twist of the handle, 'are you all right—?'

Her eyes snapped open and her pained expression melted away to be replaced by her usual stoic demeanor. I wasn't fooled though; I'd known her long enough to see that she was hiding something.

'Fine.' She replied quietly, her hand staying locked around her side.

'You don't look so good.' I said, visions of what Gaia might have done to her permeating through my head. Mother Earth hadn't exactly been gentle with me—and I'd fooled her into thinking I was on her side. What had Annabeth been subjected to?

'D'you have any ambrosia left?' Annabeth asked, ignoring my rather acute observation of her state of health.

I hesitated; not wanting to give her potentially dangerous food especially since she wasn't being truthful but then I decided that it was no use arguing. If I didn't give it to her, she'd find another way. At least this way I'd be able to regulate how much she ate.

'Yeah… just a sec.' I dug my hand through my pockets and found a couple of squashed squares that had probably been in my jeans for months. I unwrapped them and passed them over, noticing as I did, that her hands were rather cold.

'D'you have something to say?' Annabeth asked as I watched her munch through them.

I sighed, 'I don't—' I paused and rethought my words, 'if I could go back and do it all over again…' I inhaled sharply through my nose, 'I'd choose differently. I just want you to know that.'

She studied me as she finished the last of the ambrosia. I submitted to her scrutiny despite the fact that my stomach was practically yelling at me to get some grub to it.

'Okay.' She finally said, shrugging.

I raised my eyebrows, 'okay? That's it?'

Annabeth sighed and dusted the crumbs of her hands. 'What d'you want me to say Leo—that I forgive you?'

'Well… yeah,' I admitted, 'that would be pretty great.'

Her expression told me that she wasn't amused. Still, I was more worried about how her cheeks suddenly had more color in them as though the ambrosia she'd just ingested was working overtime to fix things.

'What are you going to tell Jason and Piper?' Annabeth asked, distracting me from focusing on her health—or lack of it.

'The truth.' I answered instantly. I wasn't in two minds about that. They were my best friends; they deserved to know everything that had happen. And if they chose to not speak to me after that—then I couldn't really blame them.

'You aren't worried that they won't believe you?' Annabeth persisted.

I swallowed down some of my nervousness. 'I am. But I'm hoping that you guys will vouch for me.'

A glimmer of a smile danced around Annabeth's lips. 'I'm sure Frank would love to set the record straight.'

I grinned, 'oh definitely. I can see him rising to my defense.'

We both laughed, except hers was rather short lived. I stopped when I saw her clutch her side ever so subtly. She closed her eyes briefly and let out a breath. Worried, I took a step closer.

'Are you sure—?'

'Leo!'

I broke off and turned, half expecting something to come flying at me but it turned out to be Percy. He pushed through the glass doors, looking rather world weary.

'Didn't you want to eat?'

'I, umm—' I stopped when I saw Annabeth shake her head carefully, indicating to me to shut up about anything that had to do with her. I hesitated; didn't Percy have a right to know that something was wrong with his girlfriend?

However, Annabeth glared at me fiercely so I decided to let I go. Besides, Percy was probably a hundred times more perceptive than me when it came to Annabeth. He'd figure it out himself anyway.

'Yeah; I was just…' I grinned and patted the door of the car, '…examining the paint job.'

Percy, as usual, looked flabbergasted.

'Yeah, okay, I'm gonna…' I made a vague flying gesture with my hands and directed my steps towards the store, making a pointed gesture to Annabeth behind Percy's back.

She rolled her eyes at me and I grinned as I turned around and pushed open the doors of the store. The clerk gave me a blinding smile and I nodded hurriedly before diving into the shelves looking for anything that would dispel my hunger.

Two minutes in and I'd already ripped open a packet of chips and was going full throttle through it behind a shelf so that the clerk wouldn't catch me. I was just wondering whether to open another packet and mix the two when Hazel came sliding around the corner looking fairly perturbed.

'Uh, Leo?'

I stopped munching and glanced at her, unable to say anything because my mouth was filled to the capacity.

'Could, you… help me out?' Hazel gestured helplessly to the rows and rows of packaged food around her. 'Back in my day, we didn't have things like this.'

'Back in your day?' I repeated, once I'd swallowed everything and finished massaging my throat.

'Yes…' Hazel muttered listlessly, 'in the 1930's.'

I was so very glad I'd decided to not eat another handful of chips right then because I'd have probably choked on them and died on the spot. As it was, I swore I felt the earth shake beneath me.

'Did you just say…?' I stammered, too shocked to finished my sentence. How many more surprises was I expected to receive on this quest?

Hazel glanced at me, momentarily anxious. 'I'm sorry; I forgot you didn't know. It's rather difficult to explain.'

I stared at her, questions buzzing like angry wasps around my head, the most obvious of which was: how was she still alive? Then I remembered a movie I'd once seen, _Orphan, _I think it was called where a thirty year old woman had been trapped in a nine year old kid's body.

I took a nervous step away from Hazel.

Distress filled her eyes, 'no, wait, you don't understand—'

She didn't get to finish her sentence.

Because outside, barely three feet away from the door, the car exploded, shattering all the windows of the store and slamming me to the ground.


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: I was hoping to update earlier but then things got in the way. Here's a nice long chapter as an apology.**

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><p><strong>34) I Don't Save The Day… Again.<strong>

**Percy**

I watched Leo head back into the store, feeling decidedly confused. What was it about him that totally threw me off focus? I turned back to Annabeth and found her grinning at me.

'Is it just me or does nobody else get him either?' I asked.

'It takes a little while to get used to him…' Annabeth admitted wincing as she unclasped her fingers from her abdomen. I watched, worried, but very aware that if I made even the slightest sound of concern she'd bite my head off.

Still, as I took in her features, I couldn't help but hyperventilate a little. Her cheeks were flushed but the rest of her face was pale and from the way she was breathing, I could tell that something was very wrong.

'Annabeth…' I said carefully, 'you should probably eat something.'

'I'm fine.' She replied, not bothering to even look at me. I looked on as she undid her seatbelt and turned to let her legs dangle off the edge of the seat.

'What're you doing?' I yelped, moving in to help but she waved me away irritably and hopped off the seat. For a second, I saw her sway ever so slightly and all the color drained from her face. I caught her arm, ignoring her protests and tried to make her sit back down but she resisted and I gave up—only because I knew that letting her fight me would only drain more of her energy.

'You shouldn't be standing.' I said and Annabeth rolled her eyes.

'Jeez, Percy I don't have cancer.' She shook off my hand and took a couple of steps away while I followed her, keeping close in case anything happened.

Annabeth turned to face me and continued walking backwards, 'I just need to stretch—' She went completely white and her legs gave way but I caught her in time and came down on one knee, supporting her against my chest.

'You were saying?' I said sarcastically, making sure to keep any of my weight off her abdomen.

'A scratch.' She panted clutching my already ripped shirt tightly for support and therefore, ripping it further.

'Okay, here's what you're going to do,' I said firmly, making sure that we had eye contact, 'you are going to _tell me _what's wrong.'

She hesitated and I raised an eyebrow, 'Annabeth. C'mon. It's me.'

She chewed her lip for a while, deciding on what to say. I waited, not entirely sure if I should help her stand up or stay on the ground. Honestly, I loved the closeness and all, but there was a little alarm going off in my head urging me to get to my feet and start moving. I shook it off; it was just my ADHD playing tricks again.

'Fine,' Annabeth sighed, drawing me back to the present. 'The poison is still in my system… and I'm not entirely sure how much time I have before it overpowers me.'

'Huh.' I said, feeling strangely lightheaded. 'On second thoughts, I think I was better off not knowing.'

She took a steady breath as my mind whirled, trying to find a way to first accept the problem and come up with a solution. I felt as though I was being pulled in a hundred different directions at once, with each idea demanding to be heard.

'Percy,' Annabeth said, tapping my cheek with a finger. I barely registered the rather familiar coldness spreading through my skin at the contact.

'Stop panicking.' She continued, 'we're about three hours away from Camp. Hopefully, I'll be able to fight it till then.'

'Hopefully,' I repeated, trying very hard to focus on what she was saying. In the back of my head, the voice kept telling me to move. I ignored it.

'I've ingested a lot of ambrosia; we should make it.' Annabeth said confidently.

'Yeah…' I said, feeling the words stick in my throat. 'And uh, why you didn't _mention _this till now?'

Annabeth shifted against me as though she was suddenly uncomfortable with the nearness, 'yeah… I, um, I didn't want to worry you.'

'Oh.' I said, nodding as though it made perfect sense. 'Yes, it seems to have worked hasn't it?'

'Oh shut up.' Annabeth growled, and my anger subsided when she trembled again. 'You can't actually _do _anything about it—so I figured there was no point bringing it up.'

I sighed, deciding that I was far too distracted to actually get into an argument with her. 'Can you stand?'

'Yes.' She took a deep breath and began climbing to her feet. I rose with her, keeping one arm ready in case things went wrong but it wasn't needed. Even so, Annabeth didn't look any better and I swore I saw her shake off some dizziness.

'Okay, we're leaving, like, _now._' I said and took a step toward the car but right at that moment I knew something not-so-great was going to happen. I moved instinctively but I wasn't fast enough.

The car exploded and the shockwave threw me off my feet. I twisted in mid-air as I went flying into Annabeth, determined to keep my body between her and the danger.

We hit solid ground with a loud _thump _and I only just remembered to keep my hands out so that I held my weight off her. My ears were ringing and it took me a second or two to get back to my senses. I spat out the mud I'd involuntarily eaten from the ground and hoisted myself up on my arms.

'Annabeth,' I muttered and moved my hand over and found her cheek, 'say something.'

She groaned, which wasn't exactly what I was hoping for and I rolled off her, trying to blink the spots out of my eyes. A charred wheel rolled past me, confirming my worst fears.

Only burning wreckage was what was left of the BMW. Glass, from the windshield littered the ground and the doors were twisted together so badly that they looked like little Bat wings jutting out from the side. The acrid smell of burning fuel went up my nose and I coughed several times to get rid of it.

Annabeth sat up beside me, looking dazed. 'What just happened?'

'The car blew up.' I replied and got to my feet, forcing down the rising panic. Where were the others? I'd left Frank and Hazel to choose their stuff before coming back out and Leo had definitely gone back in—so they should have been okay.

'Guys!' I called out loudly, ignoring the smoke which was stinging my eyes. 'Everyone okay?'

Leo's head was the first to pop out, looking rather horrified. Surprisingly, the clerk appeared next, her face a mask of concern. She walked down the steps and stared at the burning piece of wreckage that was once a car.

'How?' She stammered.

I ignored her and helped Annabeth to her feet. 'How's the head?'

She rubbed her temples and gazed past me. 'Now—you have a reason to panic.'

I didn't say anything and took her arm, careful to lead her around the burning metal. There was no way the car could be fixed, even by Leo. And yet, it was imperative that I found transport, Annabeth was running out of time.

I stopped near the clerk who was still standing on the steps. 'Can we call a cab or something? Does a taxi service operate around here?'

The clerk tore her eyes away from the iridescent flames. 'N-no, I'm sorry Mr. Hunt.'

'Mr.—who?' Leo asked, looking interested in the change of conversation. He climbed down the steps till he was at the same level at us.

'Look,' I said calmly, refusing to give in just yet, 'go inside and call the nearest cab place or bus station or whatever. It's an emergency.'

The clerk looked like she'd wanted to argue but I'd already turned away from her so she scurried back inside without saying anything. Annabeth had her head turned and was surveying the wreckage intently.

'We have no supplies.' She said suddenly, 'our packs—everything's incinerated.'

'At least we have our weapons.' Leo put in and waved to his tool-belt. I nodded in agreement, 'yeah Frank has his bow and you have your dagger.'

Annabeth didn't look too pleased. 'What do we do now?'

The dreaded question. _What was I going to do? _I had no transport and there was a dying girl right next to me, in dire need of an antidote. Any nectar and ambrosia which we might have possessed had burned away along with the rest of our supplies, including the money.

'Leo, go back inside and see if Frank and Hazel are okay.' I said, grasping on to some semblance of control. Hopefully the clerk would find something we could use.

Leo frowned but didn't say anything. He climbed the steps and vanished inside the open doorway.

'Why'd you tell the clerk my name was Patrick Hunt again?' I asked Annabeth. She raised an eyebrow at the odd question. I shrugged; I was trying to give my brain time to think of something.

'False information.' Annabeth replied, a tad tiredly. 'In case someone tried to interrogate her.'

'Ah.' I said, remembering quite fondly how just a day ago, our only problem had been gold automatons. In hindsight, those things had been the easiest to deal with. I still couldn't wrap my head around the idea that Hephaestus had changed sides. Believe me, I had no particular love for the god but when I'd met him on Calypso's island he'd been pretty decent to me.

The clerk reappeared with Leo right behind her. Neither of their expressions made me feel any better.

'I'm sorry Mr. Hunt,' The clerk said again, 'I tried to tell you earlier but there's nothing around for miles. One of the interstate buses picks me up and takes me home after my shift is done.'

'When's the next one due?' I asked, trying to rally my sinking spirits.

The clerk spread her hands helplessly, 'In another two hours. That's when my shift ends.'

I sighed in frustration and looked up into the sky. It was six o' clock in the evening and soon the sun would set. Five demigods together would have sent up a huge flare for any monster in the vicinity. And as darkness fell, they'd only get stronger.

I glanced at Annabeth. She was leaning against the railing and was grinding her teeth together. Would she even survive for two hours?

'We have to call the police anyway,' the clerk said, 'maybe they could offer you a ride.'

'No.' I said immediately. I couldn't have the police hovering around; it would only add to my problems.

The clerk looked unsure, 'Mr. Hunt it's the law, we have to report in—'

'Please.' I said, giving her my best innocent look. 'Not yet. Could you go back inside and try again for the transport services?'

She hesitated but some of the desperation I was feeling must've showed on my face because she went back in, mumbling inaudibly to herself.

'I don't have good news either.' Leo began.

'What is it?' I asked tersely, cocking my head to one side as a strange hum penetrated the air. Beside me, Annabeth looked up as well, which meant I wasn't imagining things.

'Hazel cut her arm on some glass.' Leo said, 'Frank's wrapped it up but it doesn't look too good.'

I swore loudly. Did nothing on quests _ever _turn out right? The humming grew louder and I slowly recognized the sound. It seemed like several engines running together…

'Hey—do you guys hear something?' Leo asked, craning his head to look around.

All three of us turned as three jeeps appeared at the corner of the road. The weak rays of sunshine reflected off something –armor– and blinded me for a second.

'Hm. Do those guys looking like anyone you know—?' Leo put his hands up and waved. The engines revved and as one, the three vehicles moved forward menacingly.

Sudden realization flooded through me.

'Into the store,' I hissed, catching Leo by the scruff of his neck and throwing him in the direction I wanted him to go. My hand found Annabeth's and I dragged her in as well, ducking to make a smaller target of my vulnerable back.

The inside of the store was a mess. Glass lay everywhere, covering everything in a powdery layer. Some of the bigger pieces lay side by side, looking rather dangerous. A few shelves were tilted at odd angles and several articles had fallen off them and broken upon impact.

Frank and Hazel were talking in low voices when I appeared and the clerk had the phone pressed to her ear. Her head swung in my direction, looking a little confused.

'We have company.' I told the others without preamble. '_Bad_ company.'

Outside, I heard tires squeal as the jeeps came to a stop next to the wreckage of the BMW. I crouched and pulled the others along with me to the side, keeping out of the straight line of fire of the open door.

'Who?' Frank asked, shooting a glance to the clerk.

'Never mind who,' I replied, my mind spinning as I tried to anticipate and counter the attack which was going to come. 'Go up to the window and keep an eye on things.'

Frank nodded and began crawling along the floor, wincing when the glass dug into his arm. He held his bow aloft with one hand so it wouldn't break against anything.

'Hazel,' I said, 'go around and see if there's a back entrance.'

She nodded, her eyes tightening with fear.

'And keep your head down!' I called after her.

The clerk meanwhile was still on the phone but I could tell from her expression that she was beginning to get suspicious. She had five teenagers on the ground, a burned car outside her store and a sudden appearance of a lot of unwelcome guests.

'Leo,' I said quietly, 'go lock her up in a storage closet. There's bound to be one somewhere.'

He grinned at me and crawled along the floor till he found protection behind one of the shelves. There he stood up and sauntered towards the clerk, pulling out a can of pepper spray from his tool-belt and holding it behind his back so it couldn't be seen.

I winced in sympathy but that was the only way to keep the mortal out of danger. Annabeth stirred next to me.

'What are you doing?' I asked, my hand grasping hers quickly.

She smiled wanly, 'going to find some supplies to help us. I saw some sulphuric acid in the back. I suppose it's kept to charge car batteries.'

I nodded and let her go, my mind already whirling. Car batteries. We needed transport and I had three vehicles just a few meters away. Of course they were filled to the brim with people who wanted to kill me... I'd have to work around that.

I scooted towards the corner opposite from Frank, keeping low. The jeeps engines were idling and I could hear lots of murmurs as people –were they people? – moved around, settling into position.

'Frank!' I called across the store, keeping my voice low. 'What's happening out there?'

Frank had his head tilted upwards so only his eyes were above the window-sill. His brow was strung and he had an arrow lying right next to it.

'They're spreading out,' he informed me, 'probably making themselves a harder target for us.'

'Who's "they?"'

Fran peered again and ducked quickly, looking rather frightened. 'Mortals. Oh and they have guns. Big ones. M16's.'

I swore. Gaia was clearly pulling out on all stops to bring us back in. I went through my options quickly. Because of the Curse of Achilles, I could walk out and face the gunfire without a problem. However, I only had Riptide—it wouldn't be effective against mortals.

So the only way left would be to knock out the nearest man, grab his gun and shoot the rest. I swallowed nervously. I _really _didn't want to shoot anyone.

Besides, what if someone shot be in my Achilles spot? No water or nectar would be able to save me. I'd die on the spot, leaving my friends in a far worse situation.

'How the hell did they find us so quickly?' I asked, mostly myself but Frank heard and a look of acute disgust crossed his face.

'Octavian.' He replied, as though the single word was supposed to make complete sense to me.

'_What?' _

'It was his BMW, remember?' Frank said distractedly, attempting to peer through the broken window again. 'It probably had some sort of tracking device on it.'

'His car blew up.' I reminded Frank.

'Exactly.' Frank said darkly, running a hand over his bow for reassurance. 'Octavian probably sent these guys to clean up anything that remained.'

I shook my head, not knowing what to say. Still, I did remember Octavian's out-of-character attitude to help us. And if his car did have a tracking device –as Frank suggested– it would make sense how the jeeps had found us so easily. Was the augur really working for Gaia?

_At this rate, _I thought to myself sourly, _the whole world is going to end up working for her._

Something rattled next to me and I drew Riptide instinctively. It turned out to be only Leo and Hazel.

'Clerk's locked up.' Leo told me. 'And I took this from her so she can't call anyone.' He tossed me something small—a cell phone. I caught it and then put it down on the ground. I had no use for it anyway. Camp Jupiter was still three hours out; reinforcements would never reach in time.

'There's no back door.' Hazel informed me confidently, 'they can't get in from anywhere else.'

'Which means we can't get out from anywhere else.' Leo said miserably.

'Relax, we'll find a way out of this.' I told him, not quite believing my own words.

Leo, however, seemed to brighten. 'I still have my Dad's present. I could use it on the fellows out there.'

'No!' I said emphatically. 'We can't destroy the cars, we need them! Or... at least one of them.'

Leo looked at me as though I was mad. 'Jeez man, we can always catch the seven o' clock bus.'

I shook my head again. 'No we can't. We're running out of time as it is.'

Hazel looked at me curiously, 'why?'

I opened my mouth to explain but somebody spoke from outside.

'Perseus Jackson!' The unknown voice called. I registered it to be male and with a horrible Texan drawl but that was about it. 'Surrender yourself to us, and we won't have to kill your friends.'

I stayed quiet, my heart hammering in my chest. Why had he only called for my surrender? What plans did he have for me?

'I'm counting down from 5,' Cowboy guy called, 'and after that things are going to get nasty. But if you come out now, we promise to be civilized.' He paused and then added, 'Five!'

'Get behind something solid.' I whispered to Leo and Hazel, pointing to a metal shelf which seemed reasonably stable. They nodded and began crawling towards it, ignoring the broken glass around them.

'Four!'

I motioned Frank to get flat on the floor before looking at the place I was positioned in. I put my back against the wall, hoping that it would be strong enough to take the beating it was about to receive, and waited.

'Three!'

I suddenly realized I had no idea where Annabeth was. She'd gone looking for sulphuric acid; surely she'd have found some by now?

_Unless the poison's overwhelmed her. And she's dying somewhere. _A snide voice inside my head reminded me. I cursed and calculated the distance between where I was and where she'd disappeared off to.

'Two!',

I braced my feet and readied myself for a quick sprint across the store. I didn't get the chance—gunfire exploded all around me, and the deadly wave of bullets swept inside, hitting various articles and ricocheting off in different directions.

I flinched and retreated till my back was once more against solid wall. Through it, I could feel vibrations as bullets hit the bricks outside but the walls had been made of good quality stuff because they held fast.

The noise was deafening. Across me, Frank had his hands over his ears and was trembling slightly as bits of plaster fell all around him. I understood the feeling. In the movies people shoot at each other all the time, almost casually but in real life, when you have bullets smashing into things all around you it's fairly terrifying; even when you have something like the Curse of Achilles to bank on.

And then, just as suddenly, there was silence.

I heard people speak to each other and then _thumps_ as cartridges were reloaded.

'Perseus,' the Texan guy called out invitingly, 'come now, you know you're surrounded. Come outside and we won't have to waste more bullets.'

He was bluffing; I could tell. No, he didn't intend to waste more bullets—he intended to send his men inside, and finish the job. And we; we were sitting ducks. The gunfire had been a scare tactic and by golly, it had worked.

I made a decision; I couldn't let my friends be harmed. Capping Riptide, I began to crawl towards the door on my elbows and knees. Yes, even if they did fire at me, nothing would happen, but as a general rule, I prefer to not have my head be used for target practice.

'Percy, don't!' Frank shook his head, attempting to get me to listen to him but I ignored his increasingly prolific gestures and carried forward.

I was about a foot away from the door when I heard another loud sound. At first, I thought it was a helicopter flying overhead but then it changed to a high-pitch whiny that was oddly reminiscent of one of those Formula One cars.

I stopped; what in Poseidon's name was happening now?

Frank meanwhile, had rather suicidally, raised his head to see what was going on. Since he wasn't getting shot at, I crawled the remaining foot and peered out of the doorway as well.

An interesting scene lay before me. There were three khaki colored jeeps, parked in a wide semicircle around the blackened remains of the BMW. In front of them were armed men, about twenty in all. I guessed the man furthest away to be the Texan.

No one, however, was looking at the store. All of them were looking to their left and as the seconds passed and the sound of an approaching vehicle grew louder, they began to panic.

'Open fire!'

One of them called, but he was too late. _Somebody _did open fire but it wasn't his comrades, it was the new arrival—whoever he was. And he had some serious firepower with him; the gun firing had a much deeper ring to it, indicating a larger caliber bullet. The front three men, who were closest to the store got cut down in seconds. The others dived for cover but the massive hailstorm of bullets raked over the jeeps, tearing apart the metal as though it was made of cloth.

If the previous shooting was deafening, this made me feel like I was in the middle of a war zone. People were _dying_ right in front of me, yelling and wailing in the process. Then the first jeep caught fire and I ducked back down, shouting at Frank to do the same.

The jeep exploded, seconds later, just as I'd figured and felt the shockwave pass through the walls and pushed me forward as an entire section of the roof fell in front of me.

Panting, I yelled at everyone to stay exactly where they were. I wondered whether to uncap Riptide and join the carnage outside but then I decided against it. Whoever was shooting at my would-be captors was clearly handling everything. He didn't need my help.

The second jeep exploded, followed so closely by the third that the blasts seemed almost simultaneous. I had to duck back to avoid the empty doorframe which detached itself from its holdings and flew across the room. The walls shook and plaster rained down on me like confetti.

The store clerk was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

Suddenly, the sounds of gunfire stopped and an eerie silence took its place, punctuated by a few groans from the men who were wounded. I glanced at Frank and he, like the daredevil that he was, had his head stuck out of the window again.

He turned to me, a massive grin on his face. 'You won't _believe _who's here.'

'Stay exactly where you are.' I ordered, getting painfully to my feet and drawing Riptide out. The glass crunched under my shoes as I walked out of the door, scarcely believing the sight before my eyes.

Along with the BMW, three other smoking car skeletons littered the storefront. The twenty men I'd counted earlier lay in various prone positions, all but a few, thoroughly dead. The smell of burning fuel was so potent that I began coughing as soon as I walked out.

Parked a few yards away, and clearly the cause of all the destruction in front of me, was an army _Hummer. _

And getting out of the front seat of the Hummer, was _Liam_.

'Hey there,' he greeted me, far too cheerfully for someone who's just send twenty people to their graves, 'it seems all I do is save your butt.'

'What are you doing here?' I asked, noticing that one man was twitching a couple of yards away. His leg was bleeding profusely and I could see the tail end of the bullet peeking out. Though he was desperately trying to drag himself away, he wasn't moving too fast.

'Me?' Liam grinned and reached behind to pull out a sword –one of the steel ones which he'd used to kill Minos– from his jacket. 'Well; it's like this. I went back to the Underworld.'

He paused and took a couple of steps towards the wounded fellow, swinging the sword gently in his hand.

'_But _it wasn't very hospitable.' Liam shrugged at me and reached the wounded man who'd only just caught sight of him.

'Please…' The man whispered, agony lacing every word of his, 'please, don't kill me. Have mercy.'

Liam ignored the man and continued with his explanation. 'The whole place was a riot. I mean, I could've stayed…' He emphasized and turned the wounded man over with his foot.

The man shrieked in pain and I felt nauseated, while Liam continued with his narrative.

'… but I was bored of LA anyway. And then,' He paused and gestured to the dying man on the ground, 'I heard these fellows wanting to follow you. And I knew that you'd disregard my advice of not stopping…'

Liam held out his free hand in a questioning gesture, '_why _by the way, did you disregard my advice?'

I felt too sick to answer. Liam ignored my silence and lifted his foot with a feral gleam in his eye.

'Don't—!' I choked but it was too late. The foot came down on the wound, hard, and the man on the ground screamed in pain.

'What the hell are you doing?' I yelled, as the man writhed, crying for mercy.

Liam ignored both of us and resumed his story, as he pressed the tip of his sword to the man's chest. 'Anyway, I figured I'd come save you guys and then continue on my way. Nice of me, wasn't it?'

'Listen,' I said, a little desperately, 'let him be. He's going to die in a few minutes.'

Liam fixed me with his cold blue stare and I could see the indifference in his eyes.

'You pity him? He tried to kill you.'

'I know that,' I answered quickly, wondering in the back of my head if I could use Riptide and knock the sword out of his hands. 'But really, you've caused enough damage.'

Liam looked at me and then at the wounded man keeping his sword in place. After a moment of silence, he sighed and lifted his sword. 'It seems today is your lucky day.'

The man whimpered in relief and I nodded, 'thank you.'

A menacing grin transformed Liam's boyishly handsome face. 'Not yet, you aren't.' Fast as a viper, he spun his sword and sliced the man's throat with almost surgical precision.

Blood spurted everywhere and I backed away but I wasn't fast enough. A spray of blood appeared across my jeans, staining it a red. I gazed at the fabric, fighting down the urge to be sick and trying not to stare at the dead man.

'Now,' Liam said lifting his dirty sword to his jacket where it promptly vanished, 'you're most welcome.'

I looked at him, containing the urge to go at him with Riptide. He seemed unaware of the danger and he smiled at me serenely. 'Right, so get the others and uh, I'll drop you off at Camp Jupiter.'

I'll be honest with you. At that moment, I didn't want to say yes. I'd just witnessed Liam kill a man in cold blood (not to mention the twenty others he'd shot at) and what I wanted, more than anything, was to back away and run for my life.

But then I remembered Annabeth. How long did she have before the poison won? I had no other means of transport either; the jeeps I'd been hoping to use were nothing more than twisted metal and I had no money to call a cab—if there even was one in the vicinity. I couldn't afford to pass up on this opportunity. Speaking of which…

'Where did you get the Hummer from?' I demanded.

Liam shrugged, 'I, ah, borrowed it.'

'Great.' I said sarcastically, 'so now the US Army is going to be following you.'

Liam dismissed my concern with a wave of his hand. 'Relax. It's no big deal. They don't know it's been taken.'

I wanted to stand and argue that _yes, it was a big deal to steal an Army vehicle_ but I remembered that I didn't have time for that. If Liam was going to drive us, he needed to be aware of the situation.

'We might have to break the speed limit.' I told him. He didn't say anything so I continued. 'Annabeth … isn't well so we have to get her to Camp as soon as possible.'

'The poison?' Liam guessed immediately.

'How'd you know?'

He rubbed his neck. 'The antidote I'd made wasn't even supposed to work as well as it did. I made a conclusion.'

'Okay.' I said and glanced unwillingly at the dead man at my feet. The open gash on his throat seemed to mock me. 'Stay here.' I told Liam, 'I'll go get the others.'

As I walked back to the store I heard Liam beginning to whistle a cheerful tune.

* * *

><p>I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and glanced at the darkened scenery flashing by. We'd been in the car for almost an hour and a half now and I was convinced something else was going to happen.<p>

Liam however, seemed rather relaxed as he drove, and he'd occasionally hum along to the various songs which were playing on the radio. At the back Annabeth sat curled up in a blanket we'd found, her eyes closed and her face pale. She was, thankfully, alive, and was now conserving her energy.

Hazel sat beside her, looking as jittery as I was feeling.

In the last seat were Frank and Leo and though I'd been hesitant to put them together –especially after the last fight they'd had– they seemed to have reached an agreement of mutual understanding where they ignored each other completely.

I drummed my fingers on the dashboard and then stopped, when Liam glanced rather pointedly at me. Finally, I decided to strike up a conversation to keep myself occupied.

'So where are you going after you drop us off?'

'Sacramento.' Liam replied as he powered down the road, using the sheer bulk of the Hummer to bully the other cars out of the way. 'I hear it's a nice city.'

I didn't know what to say to that so I just shut up. However, I clearly wasn't the only nervous demigod in the car because Frank spoke up next.

'You know Liam…' He began nervously, 'after everything that you've done for us I'm sure Camp Jupiter will be willing take you in. It's a nice place—a safe place. You wouldn't have to be on the run all the time.'

Liam laughed and I couldn't help but remember that this was the same guy who'd killed a man because of some twisted idea of revenge. He seemed so different from the one I'd encountered at the store.

'I appreciate the invitation Frank,' He said, increasing the speed of the car as an open road stretched in front of us, 'but I don't get along with Romans. So, no thanks.'

'Why d'you have against Romans?' Hazel asked, sounding a little annoyed.

Liam grinned, 'nothing as such. I just… don't like them very much. Aside from you two of course.' He added and winked at them in the rearview mirror.

Neither of them looked too pleased but before I could intervene, Leo started to speak, sounding a little hysterical.

'Am I the only who's still freaked out by the car blowing up and the welcoming committee we got after?' He demanded, his voice cracking from the emotion, 'because that was seriously not cool.'

I stayed silent, not knowing what to say. The Octavian theory was still fresh in my mind but I was reluctant to share it. To admit that there was a traitor within the ranks, even if it was the augur, was rather demoralizing.

'I mean, if we can't beat her on home ground,' Leo continued when no one answered his question, 'what chance do we have against her in Rome or Greece?'

'Wait, Greece?' Liam questioned, sounding mildly interested. 'Where did that come from?'

I sighed and rested my aching head against glass of my window. 'Haven't you heard the Second Great Prophecy?'

He looked at me, puzzled. 'There's another one of those things?'

'Yeah.' I replied, 'Well, basically it speaks of seven demigods uniting and closing the Doors of Death and then going on to defeat Gaia.'

'And you think the Doors of Death are in Greece.' Liam stated.

'No.' I said, 'we think they're in Rome. But Gaia plans to destroy Mount Olympus—the real one so we'll have to go to Greece to stop her.'

'Ah.' Liam said understandingly and then added in a lower tone, 'that explains why she took Nico.'

'What?' Hazel and I exclaimed together.

'What d'you mean?' Frank asked in the stunned silence that followed.

Liam shrugged, 'The Doors of Death aren't exactly in Gaia's domain. They belong to Hades, so she's going to need a little help to keep them open. It's really draining her, doing it without any help.'

I sat back, feeling my heart race. Nico was in Rome. Of course, it made perfect sense he'd be there. I felt my fists curl in anticipation, _this time, _I wouldn't fail him.

'So you guys are going to journey to Europe?' Liam asked, drawing me away from my thoughts, 'how's that going to happen?'

'We have a ship.' Leo said listlessly from the back. 'Though knowing Gaia she'll probably destroy us half way there.'

'Interesting.' Was all Liam had to say.

I glanced around to Annabeth had found in the same position. Feeling a little paranoid, I gestured to Hazel, 'check on her, would you?'

Hazel reached across and put a hand on Annabeth's cheek. The latter didn't react at all. I felt my heart pick up speed again.

'She's really cold Percy,' Hazel said worriedly, attempting to retuck the blanket around Annabeth so that it covered every part of bare skin.

'Wake her up.' I said quickly.

Hazel shook Annabeth gently and then with a little more force but nothing happened. I felt my heart stop and then resume beating like a bullet train. Annabeth was unconscious—how long before her heart stopped completely?

I turned to Liam and grimly, 'step on it.'

* * *

><p><strong>Just wondering; the rating of the story is okay, right? <strong>


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: I thought we needed a change of perspective, yes?**

* * *

><p><strong>35) I Encounter An Authority Problem<strong>

**Jason-I**

I paused outside the second Prateor's house which Reyna occupied and felt a little nervous. In my hand, I clutched a slim folder which contained exactly two sheets of paper.

The first sheet had a list of thirty names, arranged alphabetically. Of the thirty, sixteen had ticks to them and three had been written in bold, capital letters. I'd made the list myself after a solid two day's work and I was feeling pretty proud of myself.

A cool breeze blew through the camp, rustling the leaves and ruffling my clothes a little. I looked down at the plain purple shirt Dakota had given me as a "welcome home" present and the SPQR tattoos engraved on my arm and felt an overwhelming feeling of peace.

I was at Camp Jupiter.

I was home.

Of course, I wasn't going to be able to stay long. The deadline for the departure to Rome (the real one) was drawing near and I had so many things to do, the most important of which was deciding the Roman soldiers who'd make up half of _The Argo's II's _crew. It had been a tedious process but I'd stuck with it, knowing that any one of the people I chose might save my life in the future.

After close to thirty six hours of work, I had the list ready. Now, all it needed was Reyna's approval—which I wasn't particularly worried about. No, the nervousness I was feeling was far more personal.

Ever since I'd arrived at Camp Jupiter I'd attributed my still unreliable memory to the overload of sensory , in the time when I'd been relatively free, I'd felt a sense of unease brewing inside me. It had nothing to do with the upcoming war, or the fulfilment of the prophecy or even the tricky situation I'd found myself in concerning Reyna and Piper.

It had everything to do with me.

It was a nagging loss of identity as though I still couldn't remember some important thing about myself. After wondering about it for hours, I finally narrowed it down to a missing memory. Juno had allowed me to remember certain things at a slow pace the past six months and though I was still hazy around details; I'd had the picture mostly intact.

Except for one memory.

After a while, I could actually _feel _the absence as though there was empty pocket in my head filled with nothing but air. It was frustrating and the worst part of it was that I knew it was something critical. After debating it over with myself, I'd finally decided to approach Reyna and ask her about it.

I was confident she would know. What I wasn't confident was about whether she would tell me.

I took a deep breath, hoping it would calm me a little, raised my hand and rang the bell.

A couple of seconds passed as I waited and a cricket chirped quietly in the corner. My fingers tightened involuntarily around the folder I was holding and wondered briefly about the other proposition I had for Reyna.

The door swung open and the sudden light blinded me. I took a nervous step back as Reyna's silhouette blocked the passage before me.

'Um, hey.' I managed, raising my hand to shield my eyes.

'Jason.' Reyna was curt as always. We stood there, facing each other for a moment before she moved to one side.

'Come in.'

'Thanks.' I muttered, clutching my file even more tightly as I stepped past her. I knew the layout of the house perfectly, since the house which had been given to me when I'd received Praetorship was built in the exact same way.

The entrance opened immediately into a fairly narrow hallway which had thick carpeting. Reyna followed me inside as the hallway widened into a bright, cheerful sitting room. There were several paintings on the wall, mostly of various scenes from New Rome and Camp Jupiter. A few of them however were classic works of the (original) Coliseum and Great Bath, back in the real Rome.

Reyna gestured me to join her at the round table situated in the center of the room. A thick book and a glass of water were at one place so I took my seat opposite it. Reyna sat down and closed her book, marking the page she'd been at.

I placed my folder on the table and removed the list of names.

'These are the people I want on _The Argo._'

Reyna examined the list without a word and I glanced around the room surreptitiously. Aside from the one table which housed photographs, there were no other personal effects around the room.

The foremost of the photographs, I knew, was a picture of us, right before we'd stormed Mount Othyrus. It was the only picture we'd had of the two of us and I felt a tinge of sadness to realize the distance that separated us now wasn't noticeable in the picture.

Reyna hadn't been the easiest person to get to know and all my hard work had been undone completely in the last six months.

_Thanks a lot Juno, _I thought to myself.

Reyna cleared her throat, drawing me back to the present, as she placed the list down carefully. She looked at me inscrutably.

'Why isn't there a tick on Anthony's name?'

Anthony Webber was a Centurion of the First Cohort and perhaps the best fighter the Camp had—except for me, of course. In all aspects, he was the perfect candidate to be inducted into _The Argo's _crew: he was a born solider and never questioned an order. He was also ferociously loyal, vastly experienced and unquestionably courageous. However…

'You don't think you can trust him.' Reyna said, reading my mind.

I spread my hands defensively, 'he's close to Octavian. He won't work with the Greeks.'

Reyna sighed and leaned back in her chair, choosing to speak to the ceiling. 'He's perhaps the best asset Camp Jupiter has ever had, Jason. You'd be a fool not to take him.'

I bristled under her cutting words. 'Why do you care? You've made no secret of the fact that you disapprove of this voyage.'

I hadn't just said that to be nasty; despite having never raised an objection, Reyna hadn't been pleased about the plans to go to Rome and then on to Greece. Everyone knew it; it was just that nobody had been brazen enough to raise the issue.

An amused smile appeared around Reyna's lips, making her look years younger. 'That's true.' She admitted and waited a few seconds before adding, 'I think its poor strategy to confront an enemy on her home ground. We should let Gaia come to us, not the other way around.'

'By the time Gaia comes to us, she'd be too powerful to stop.' I countered.

Reyna shrugged, looking unconvinced. 'Perhaps. Perhaps not. The fact remains you're taking my best fighters for this voyage. You're practically draining Camp Jupiter of any defensive power.'

I ignored the sting of accusation and focused on the discussion at hand. 'Which brings us back to why you want me to take Webber.'

A minute passed and I began to wonder if I'd overstepped some invisible line. She was, after all, Praetor and officially, I was nothing more than an ordinary legionary.

Reyna took a deep breath and met my gaze. 'I want you take Anthony because I know how dangerous this quest is. I don't want you to die because of the amateur solider that you picked in his place.'

I stared back at her, not knowing what to say. She was actually _worried _about me_. _The realization made me feel a little better inside.

'And in any case,' Reyna continued, 'you've decided on only nineteen candidates including yourself, Hazel and Frank. That still leaves a spot open for Anthony.'

I felt my throat go dry. This was another important discussion I had to have and it was imperative that I chose my words carefully.

'I left that spot open for someone else.' I began.

'Who?'

'The seventh member of the prophecy.' I said, looking directly at her. Her eyes widened briefly as she understood the obvious meaning behind my words and I saw her fingers clench.

'You think it's me.' She stated, going straight to the point.

I shrugged, 'do you think it's you?'

Reyna thought about my words and I waited with baited breath. I wanted her to join me on the voyage and not only because of my various selfish reasons. She was the only person who'd know more about Rome than me. She lived and breathed Rome _and _she was an excellent fighter. It would be stupid not to think she was the seventh member.

Reyna finally looked back at me, 'No. I don't think it's me, Jason.'

I tried not to let my spirits fall. She was deliberately shutting me out and I was determined to not let her. It was unfair; why was she acting like this when she _knew _that canoodling with the Greeks hadn't been my idea at all?

'You're saying that because you think this quest is a waste of time.' I shot back, trying not to let the hurt I was feeling show. I was a Roman; I did _not _have a weakness.

'No, I don't, Jason—' Reyna said but I cut her off, clutching blindly at any straw that would help me _show her _that she was still one of my closest friends no matter what had happened.

'Then come!' I said, forcefully, 'if not as part of the Prophecy then as a part of the crew. Reyna, please…' I paused, fighting back the lump in my throat. 'I need you.'

For the first time in the entire conversation, I saw her mask slip. In that moment, I saw the tortured indecision and it spurred me on to press my advantage.

'We always fight impossible battles together.' I said, reminding her of the Second Titan War. She'd been my partner during all those fights and if I was honest with myself, she was the only reason why I was still alive.

Reyna looked at the table, unable to hold my gaze. My heart began to beat faster: had I finally cracked her defence? Would she remember how close we used to be? Would she be willing to give me another chance?

'Jason…' She began in a low voice, and I suddenly couldn't breathe, 'I can't. I'm sorry.'

Disappointment welled inside me, crushing my insides to pulp. My fingers curled around the edges of the table, turning my knuckles white.

'Why?' I asked, keeping my voice emotionless. I would not show her how much she'd affected me. I would remain strong and impervious.

'Because I can't just _leave _Camp Jupiter!' Reyna said furiously and wrenched her chair away from the table so that she could get up and pace. Her eyes flashed dangerously; gone was the calm and composed Praetor.

'I can't leave,' She repeated angrily, 'not like you did, Jason. I have a responsibility here. This is my home.'

'I didn't leave because I wanted to.' I yelled, getting up as well. Why was this so difficult for her to understand? 'I was taken, Reyna, _against my will._ Juno didn't _ask _me if it would be quite all right to throw me across the country with no memory and no _identity!_'

'So if you'd have had a choice, you'd have stayed?' She asked tightly, her eyes narrowing.

'Yes.' I said immediately, 'this is my _home. _Why would I leave Camp Jupiter?'

_Why would I leave you? _I added silently in my head.

Reyna sighed wearily and brushed her hair out of her face. 'Then how do you expect _me_ to leave, Jason?'

Her question hit me like a ton of bricks.

'D'you think that Gaia won't try and destroy this place?' Reyna continued, 'd'you think she'll just ignore its existence?'

I looked away; I knew what she was getting at but I didn't want to accept it. My gaze fell on the picture of us together and the smiles in it seemed to mock me. How had everything become so twisted?

'There are people here.' Reyna said seriously, 'People and families and children. And I am their Praetor. I took an oath to protect them. Camp Jupiter needs me.'

'I need you.' I whispered brokenly and looked at her. She seemed stricken. 'I need you Reyna, doesn't that count for something?'

Silence. Absolute and complete silence. I could hear the crickets in the garden again. The breeze blew through the window, making the curtains sway slowly.

'I never gave up on you.' Reyna said, her eyes glinting with challenge, 'six months we hadn't heard a thing and but I never gave up.' She paused and swallowed, 'I _believed _you'd come back.'

I gazed at her, aware of what she was waiting for me to say. Aware of what she _wanted _me to say. I felt the words bubble up inside me but I couldn't lie to her. She deserved the truth.

'I didn't remember anything.' I said hollowly, 'I didn't even know how old I was.'

Reyna blinked and said softly. 'Percy remembered Annabeth.'

If she'd pulled out her knife and stabbed me with it, it wouldn't have hurt as much as her statement. _Percy remembered Annabeth. _Of course he did, he was the hero who had the Curse of Achilles. _Percy Jackson _could do no wrong.

'Percy remembers everything.' I muttered savagely. 'He knows everyone and remembers everything. Unfortunately I'm not that lucky.'

Surprise flitted across Reyna's face. 'What d'you mean? Dakota told me that you have all your memories back.'

'That's because I told him I had all my memories back.' I said, containing the urge to get straight to the point. My pulse quickened; would I finally be able to know what my brain refused to remember?

'But you don't.' Reyna stated, waiting for me to affirm it.

I nodded and took a few steps towards to her, trailing my fingers over the surface of the table as I passed it.

'I remember most things.' I said carefully, watching her as I came closer, half expecting her to back away. She held her ground. 'But there's this _one _incident which I don't…' I petered out, trying to figure out how exactly I was going to explain it to her so that she'd understand.

'It's like there's a missing part of the picture. A very important part.' I said, feeling turmoil brew inside me. 'It's—it's something that makes me who I am. Makes me… Jason Grace.'

Realization flew across her features but I caught it just in time. Relief flared inside me but I pushed it down, knowing that I hadn't won the battle just yet.

'You know what I'm talking about.' I said and stopped right in front of her. There was very little space between us and I was aware of every movement she made.

'Yes.' Reyna admitted.

'Can you tell me what it is?' I whispered, looking straight into her dark eyes. Her features softened but the corner of her mouth turned down.

'I don't think that would be wise.' She said, just as quietly.

'You don't understand.' I sad quickly, feeling my heart rate rise again. 'Reyna—this is a _part _of me! If I don't remember it…'

I faltered but picked up again, not caring if she heard the desperation in my every word. '_I_ _don't know who I am._'

Reyna looked at me with an emotion I didn't often associate with her: pity. Anger burned inside me. I didn't want her pity. I wanted answers!

'How can the others rely on me when I can't rely on myself?' I demanded and closed took another step closer till our foreheads were nearly touching. She _still _didn't back away. 'You have to tell me Reyna—you _have _to!'

Reyna blinked and put her hand on my chest. I too surprised to move. In all the time we'd spent together, she very rarely resorted to physical contact.

'What—?'

Before I could finish, she cut me off firmly. 'Percy Jackson.'

'_What?' _I yelped, and backed away feeling as though she'd just stung me.

'Percy Jackson.' Reyna repeated, her tone maddeningly calm.

'What is that supposed to mean?' I snarled, angry that she'd bought up the Greek's name in a clearly personal moment.

'Think about it Jason,' Reyna explained, 'why does Percy remember who he is but you don't?'

I threw my hands up in frustration. What did this have to do with anything? 'I don't know! Maybe he's lucky. Maybe Juno likes him more than she likes me!'

Reyna shook her head. 'Percy Jackson remembers who he is because he is meant to.'

'And you're saying I'm not?' I asked, incredulously.

'It's not a coincidence that he knows who he is while you don't.' Reyna answered crisply. 'Juno doesn't want you to remember whatever she's hiding from you, Jason.'

'Juno doesn't know what she's doing.' I scoffed.

'Don't ever say that!' Reyna's eye flashed with anger and her expression became considerably less friendly.

'Why?' I demanded, 'the last I checked she wasn't infallible.'

'We are Romans.' Reyna said coldly, 'we don't _question _the will of the gods like the Greeks do.'

'Maybe we _need _to!' I spat. 'They sure aren't being real helpful right now.'

'Don't say such things, Jason. You are a Roman.' Reyna said warningly.

'Have you ever considered I might be both?' I said quietly, turning on my feet to look at her.

She flinched, 'that isn't possible.'

'Yes it is.' I ground out, an image of Piper laughing flashing through my eyes. My gut tightened and I felt a flicker of guilt. She and Leo had possibly been the best things that had happened to me and here I was trying to ignore all that they'd done for me.

I was Greek. Just as I was Roman. It was part of Juno's plan. To open each side to the other till people stopped identifying themselves with any one side. We were demigods. _That's _who we really were.

Reyna stared at me, 'don't do this to yourself.'

'Do what?'

'_This._' She pointed accusingly at me. 'You're making yourself out to be someone else. Don't.'

'If I remembered who I was, I wouldn't have to.' I pointed out, feeling supremely guilty for playing her distrust against the Greeks to my advantage. I brushed it away impatiently; I could always apologize later.

Reyna stood there, unmoving, indecision bright in her eyes. I walked up to her slowly, feeling incredibly confused. Her head tilted up to meet my gaze as I approached and I felt a thrill run down my spine. For once we weren't hiding behind walls and words. It was just us.

_But is this who you really want? _A voice which sounded remarkably like Piper's whispered in my head.

'Please, Reyna,' the words rolled smoothly off my tongue as though I'd been saying her name all my life. 'Tell me what I don't remember. Tell me who I really am.'

Her hand came up to cup my cheek and I felt my skin burn in anticipation. She closed eyes briefly and when she opened them, I saw a bottomless well of sorrow. Her lips moved and just when she formed the first word, somebody knocked on her door. Loudly.

For a moment we stood transfixed but the spell broke and she dropped her hand and moved away from me.

It was all I could do to not shout in despair. So close. I had been so close!

An urgent voice sounded from outside. 'Praetor, may I come in? There has been a new development.'

Reyna glanced at me, and I saw regret in her eyes. A moment later it had vanished under the usual impassive mask she wore.

'Come in.' She called authoritatively, 'the door is open.'

A fully armored boy ran in. He looked around thirteen. His helmet was far too big for his head and it slipped forward as he came to a stop. I'd seen him around earlier but I didn't recognize him. Obviously a new camper.

He nodded once to me and then saluted Reyna quickly, 'Praetor Jackson has returned from his quest along with his companions,' the boy panted, 'they're at the entrance to the Caldecott tunnel.'

'Why haven't they entered Camp?' Reyna asked, already moving to put on some footwear.

The boy took a few more breaths before speaking. 'One of his companions is gravely injured. They don't want to move her.'

'Who's injured?' I asked, quickly.

The boy shrugged, 'The Greek girl. I don't know her name.'

_Annabeth._

Reyna and I exchanged worried glances. Gravely injured? What had happened on the quest?

'Lead the way.' Reyna ordered and the boy saluted before moving speedily to the door. Reyna followed him, breaking into a run as soon as she was outside.

For a minute, I stood in the empty house, letting the memories wash over me. My eyes fell on the picture on the table. I resisted the urge to break it and turned to the door, beginning to run as well.

* * *

><p>Even though the distance between the rear entrance to Camp and Reyna's house wasn't much, running it made it feel a great deal longer. Reyna, the thirteen year old kid and I were going flat out and the horrible images flashing through my head only made me pour on the speed.<p>

_Annabeth was gravely injured._

What did that mean exactly? Had she lost a limb? Was she dying? As our footsteps pounded the ground, my imagination came up with worst of scenarios.

And Leo. _Dear gods, _I thought to myself, _what about Leo? _Just because Annabeth was "gravely injured" didn't mean that Leo was perfectly fine. A knot of guilt formed in my chest, making it difficult to breathe. I should have never let Leo go on the damn quest in the first place.

In half a minute, we'd reached the banks of the Little Tiber. Because of the late hour, the streets had been relatively empty and only a couple of Centurions had been around to see the mad dash of a Praetor, a former Praetor and a sentry.

The cold water of the river awakened my senses as I splashed through it, struggling to keep my footing. Behind me, the kid had it worse because of all the armor that was weighing him down. Usually, a bridge was used to make the crossing but it had apparently been destroyed during the attack on Camp Jupiter.

I reached the other side first and saw the group of people, clustered around the entrance to Caldecott Tunnel. Reyna matched me stride for stride and together we raced towards them.

The first thing that stood out to me when we reached was how awfully dark it was. Two people –Bobby and Dakota– were the only ones with flashlights and they were pointing them to a huddle of three people in the center of the group.

My heart leapt into my mouth when I caught a glimpse of Annabeth's face. It was white –and I mean as white as virgin snow– and she didn't seem to be breathing.

The boy kneeling on her right was Percy and the worry etched on his face made him look half deranged.

The guy on Annabeth's left was a stranger. The only feature of his could make out properly was his reddish-brown hair. He was bending over Annabeth and in his left hand, he held a thin pipe, of which the opening he'd jammed with a thumb. His head was tilted towards his watch.

The other end of the pipe trailed upwards and disappeared into a bottle of nectar which Bobby was holding aloft with his other hand.

'…and time.' The stranger murmured. He removed his thumb and pushed the pipe unceremoniously into Annabeth's mouth. He held it there for a few seconds before turning to Percy.

'Pulse?' He questioned, rather calmly.

Percy didn't seem to share the same composition. 'Declining. Steadily.'

His words were like a physical blow and I let out a breath of air. Percy turned at the sound and noticed Reyna and me for the first time. However, his gaze went past us and settled on the kid beside me.

'Where the hell are the medics?' Percy demanded, his tone trembling with rage.

I didn't blame the kid for the nervous step he took backwards. 'I don't know sir. The last I saw, Joshua was on his way to get them.'

Percy looked like he wanted to say something –or possibly shout something– but the stranger stirred beside him and asked for the pulse again.

'It's falling.' Percy said and looked at the stranger pleadingly, all traces of previous anger gone. 'It's falling too quickly, Liam.'

'Tilt the bottle.' Was the stranger's –Liam's– response. Dutifully, Bobby shifted his hand and the pipe was once more thrust into Annabeth's unresponsive mouth.

'Find out where the medics are.' I heard Reyna whisper to the thirteen year old kid. He looked relieved to have something to do because he took off instantaneously.

I glanced around and got a proper look at the others. Even in the dim light, I could see that all of them, without exception, were caked in mud. It was in their hair and on their clothes, even sticking to their skin in some places.

Aside from that, they had a motley mixture of all kinds of injuries.

Dried blood adorned Frank's collar and I followed the tell-tale trail of it up his neck and then into his hair. Hazel sported a prominent bruised on the side of her forehead and Leo's cheek had a mess of cuts as though he'd gone and rubbed it against a rough, stony wall.

They didn't seem to register the fact that they were hurt as well, instead, they all stood in a kind of horrified silence, taking in the spectacle before them.

'…shit' Percy muttered, drawing my attention back to him.

'What now?' Liam asked, tersely. He was back to looking at his watch.

'It's gone.' Percy answered him in a choked voice. 'It's gone Liam, I can't feel a thing.'

There was a moment of stunned stillness as all of us digested his words. Then Liam leaped into action.

'Lay her down on her back.' He instructed Percy as he snatched the bottle of nectar away from Bobby.

Percy got Annabeth into position, and put an ear to his chest. Tears glinted prominently on his cheeks and I felt a lump crawl up my throat. _Not like this, _I prayed to all the gods I remembered, _please not like this._

'No signs of breathing.' Percy croaked, 'no heartbeat either.'

'CPR. Now.' Liam ordered and pulled the pipe off the bottle as Percy 's complied and began counting off as he pumped Annabeth'a heart with the heel of his hand, looking completely terrified.

'C'mon..' Percy breathed as he leaned down to blow air into Annabeth's lungs. He put an ear to her mouth and left his hand on her chest, looking for any signs of life.

I watched with growing horror along with the others. In a bid to stop my hands from shaking, I stuffed them into my pockets. The flashlights wavered a little bit, throwing shadows everywhere.

'Nothing.' Percy whispered brokenly. His eyes looked like empty pools of blackness in the dim light.

Liam didn't give up. He emptied whatever nectar was left into Annabeth's mouth and tossed the bottle aside once it was over.

'Again.'

Percy repeated the routine, desperation apparent in his very movement, as he alternatively pleaded with Annabeth to come bac to life.

'Nothing.' He said for the second time and my spirits sunk to an all time low. I felt my eyes moisten in response.

Liam didn't react. 'Do it again.'

I watched Percy labor over Annabeth in disbelief. It seemed inconceivable that she was actually dying in front of me. We'd spent so much time together, working past the initial mistrust to establish some sort of relationship. It wasn't fair that after all the work she'd put in, she was going to die thousands of miles from home.

'Nothing's happening, Liam.' Percy groaned as he once more checked Annabeth for signs of life. 'She's dead.'

For the first time in the entire operation, Liam was at a loss for words. Next to me, Reyna muttered a Roman prayer, which I knew, asked for safe passage to the Underworld for the departed soul. A single tear escaped my eye and fell to the ground.

The breeze ruffled everyone's clothes as Percy broke down over Annabeth's still body. I heard Hazel's sniffle and Frank's low reassurances. Leo seemed too stunned to move.

And then, the area burst into activity as six people appeared on the scene. One of them was the kid who'd come to Reyna's house and next to him was another boy, similarly clad in armor. I assumed him to be Joshua.

The four others were all Apollo's children. I recognized their leader straight away: Max Keenan. He was the best shot and healer in the legion. He was also one of the people I'd chosen to join the crew of _The Argo. _

Max was three inches shorter than me and had black hair which as peppered, rather unusually with bits of grey. Though he wasn't built solidly, he had an air of capability around him.

However, as he took in the scene, even his confidence vanished.

'Holy Jupiter…' He muttered as around him, his companions made similar sounds of agreement.

Percy hadn't even looked up to notice the arrival of the others, not that I could blame him. His entire world has just collapsed around the motionless body if his girlfriend. Liam however, stared at Max for about three seconds before leaping to his feet.

'D'you have an adrenalin injection with you?' He demanded fiercely, towering over Max. I hadn't realized the stranger was so tall.

'Uh, yes.' Max nodded, hastily retreating. 'But the chances of it—'

'Give it to me.' Liam cut him off brusquely, clicking his fingers in urgency as the first of Percy's despair filled sobs filled the air.

Wordlessly, one of the medics retrieved and handed over the injection.

In one efficient move, Liam bent down and stuck the needle into Annabeth's skin. He depressed the plunger and began to mutter to himself. 'C'mon, give me a kick. Just _one _kick.'

He tossed the empty syringe away; grasped Percy by his shoulders powerfully and threw him off the body. Percy, in blind rage, tried to claw his way back but I (who seemed to be the only one who understood what was happening) intervened and caught him around the chest, holding him in place.

'Let me go, you son of a bitch!' Percy yelled, struggling violently against me.

I fought back, barely managing to keep him off Annabeth. 'He's trying to help her Percy!'

It took several seconds for my words to penetrate the mist of grief surrounding him. That coupled with the sight of Liam pumping away rapidly, finally got Percy to realize what was happening.

He broke free of my grip, sending me spiralling into the ground, as he grabbed Annabeth's hand, searching for a pulse.

'One kick…!' Liam repeated, savagely, 'give me one kick!'

I lay on the ground, my arms aching horribly and tried to make sense of what was happening. The others stood around me, various stages of hope evident on their faces.

In the dim light, however, I saw Max shake his head and turn away.

'I have something!' Liam shouted, stopping Max in his tracks.

I sat up straight, unable to believe my ears. Liam had his head pressed to Annabeth's chest and his eyes were closed.

'There! He shouted again. 'Percy, do you feel anything?'

All eyes turned to Percy. He had his fingers wrapped around Annabeth's wrist and the madness of grief in his eyes lifted a little.

'I can feel a pulse…' He whispered disbelievingly, 'I have a pulse and its rising!'

'She's breathing!' Liam said delightedly, pointing. I followed his finger and sure enough Annabeth's chest rose and fell minimally.

'She's alive, SHE'S ALIVE!' Percy yelled, moving to cradle Annabeth's head in his arms. He didn't get there in time though because Max suddenly decided to roll into action and push away everyone (including me) surrounding the body so that he could get some space.

He placed two fingers on Annabeth's neck and waved at his companions. 'We have an erratic heartbeat, but it's strong. Get the damn stretcher!'

As the other three unfolded the complicated bit of machinery they'd got with them, Max turned to Liam. 'What happened to her?'

'Poison from the Kawazaki plant.' Liam responded immediately.

'When did it enter her system?'

Liam looked unsure and glanced at Percy but the latter was still on the ground, his face registering nothing but shock. Just like the rest of us. Even I was struggling to believe what had just happened.

'Three o' clock this morning, I think.' Liam finally answered, once it became apparent that Percy wasn't going to help him.

A look of incredulity passed over Max's features. 'She should have died hours ago!'

I flinched; I had no idea what this Kawazaki poison thing was, but I was eternally grateful that Annabeth had been able to fight it for so long.

Liam, meanwhile, didn't look surprised. 'I know. D'you have the antidote?'

'Yes.' Max nodded and prodded Annabeth's body with his slim fingers. He turned to Liam accusingly, 'you nectar loaded her.'

So _that _was what the pipe thing had been. I'd never seen administered to anyone before which made sense when I heard Max's tone. It was clearly a frowned upon practice.

Liam looked defensive. 'I didn't have a choice. I had to keep her heart beating!'

Max shook his head, clearly troubled. 'Her temperature's skyrocketing. It's going to be touch-and-go.'

He gestured to the others who'd put the stretcher down, next to Annabeth. 'We move her on three!' He told them and they all moved into a designated position.

I admired the way the four worked in tandem as they transferred Annabeth from the ground to the stretcher. Meanwhile, Percy had finally shaken himself out of his daze and was getting to his feet.

Max, reading the intention on his face, held out an objecting hand. 'I don't think you should come.'

Percy's green eyes were like glass crystals. 'I'd like to see you try and stop me.'

A tense moment followed as Max battled between his training to always follow protocol and his desire to not get punched in the face. Reluctantly, he dropped his hand. 'My apologies, Praetor Jackson. Of course you may come.'

But Reyna stepped forward, looking troubled. 'Percy, you can't just—'

Her objection died away into thin air because Percy was already moving, keeping pace with the stretcher as it raced across the ground, towards the Little Tiber.

'You can't expect him to not go.' I said in a low voice, feeling curiously drained.

'It's not that!' Reyna said worriedly. She turned to Leo who was the closest of the questers. 'Does Percy have the Curse of Achilles?'

Leo blinked a couple of times. 'What? Uh, yeah… he got that thing done.'

Understanding flooded through me and suddenly, I was just as worried as Reyna. The two of us moved forward a couple of steps but then stopped just as quickly. Percy was already too far away to catch up with and even if we did, I had a feeling nothing was going to deter him from following that stretcher.

'All of that… for nothing.' Reyna muttered as the group neared the river. I stayed silent; a niggle of an idea forming inside my head.

Just as the party stepped into the Little Tiber, a strange thing happened. A curious whistling sound echoed up and down the river and the water began to boil as though there were snakes thrashing around inside it. The stretcher-bearers hesitated but carried through nonetheless as the water began receding around them. The excess water spilt over the banks as Percy carved a dry route through the flowing river.

'Unbelievable.' Reyna whispered, her face drawn in some unidentifiable emotion as Percy and co. crossed to the other bank and disappeared from view. Immediately, the water flowed back into its channel, operating under some unseen directive.

I felt a glimmer of pride in me. _Roman and Greek_, I thought to myself. Percy was Roman and Greek. The river would not wash away an enchantment –even if it was a Greek one– because it was being held by a Roman demigod. I gazed up at the stars briefly; Juno's plan seemed to be working.

'So Percy's okay then?' Leo asked, sidling up to me.

I paused before answering. I sincerely doubted if Percy was 'okay' mentally but physically he seemed just fine. 'He should be.' I told Leo and he breathed a sigh of relief.

'Hold on,' I heard Reyna's voice tinged with suspicion. 'Where's Nico?'

I whipped around, suddenly realizing the obvious. The only person I didn't know was the brown-haired stranger but his name was Liam, not Nico. I caught Hazel's eye and she looked away, brushing tears –whether residual or newly surfacing I didn't know– off her face.

'Nico didn't make it.' Leo said quietly and his words seemed to thicken the air around us.

'He's dead?' I yelped, disbelievingly.

Liam snorted, 'learn to listen, Roman. Did Valdez say the son of Hades was dead?'

I stared at the stranger, surprised by his obviously hostile tone. Leo shifted uncomfortably next to me but didn't say anything. _Son of Hades, _I thought to myself; he's obviously a Greek. I felt a frission of anger—who was this man who walked into _my_ Camp and insulted me?

'Who the hell are you?' I asked, coldly.

A smirk danced around Liam's lips and I noticed that he had blue eyes, probably a shade lighter than mine. The similarity only served to make me angrier.

'I'm a Greek,' Liam said arrogantly, 'that's all _you_ need to know, Roman.'

I gritted my teeth and opened my mouth to retort but Leo intervened, obviously deciding that things were getting out of hand. 'This is Liam, son of Demeter,' Leo said soothingly, 'he was, uh… our guide down in the Underworld.'

I narrowed my eyes as Liam gave me a pointed smile. 'You're a son of Jupiter, aren't you?'

Since I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of showing my surprise, I shrugged nonchalantly. 'I'm Jason Grace. Heard of me, have you?'

Reyna winced next to me, though I didn't need her to tell me I was being an idiot. Still, something about the Greek in front of me _really _pissed me off. His cold stare and the way he sneered as he said, "Roman" were all contributory factors.

'No,' Liam feigning indifference, 'but the stink of arrogance surrounding you is unmistakable.' He met my gaze and I saw he was enjoying getting under my skin. 'Like father, like son.' He shrugged, as I stood rooted to the spot, trembling with rage.

'You better leave this Camp, Greek,' I finally managed, 'before I throw you out myself.'

Reyna put a restraining hand on my arm and but I ignored her. Any goodwill the stranger might have earned by saving Annabeth had all vanished. I wanted to break his nose. Multiple times.

Liam examined me closely, 'on whose authority? I can't help but notice you have no official badge.'

He might as well have kicked me in the crotch. Unerringly, the man I'd met for only a few minutes had identified my weakness and used it to his advantage completely.

'On mine.' Reyna said, stepping forward and saving my behind yet again. 'I am Praetor of this camp, and currently, you're carrying very little favour.'

Liam grinned disarmingly. 'I don't think Camp Jupiter's ever had a Praetor as pretty as you. D'you have a number I can call on?'

It took the combined efforts of Dakota, Frank and Leo to stop me from launching myself at the Greek. As it was, I think I might have unwittingly bruised one of Frank's ribs—which further added to my frustration.

Liam sighed mockingly, 'it's like taking candy from a child.'

Reyna shot me a disapproving look before turning to Liam, her face falling back to her usual professional mask. 'Enough. I won't have any more of this.'

It was a testament to Reyna's air of authority that Liam didn't say anything. He merely shrugged and looked away, but not before winking patronizingly at me.

'Clearly you have been an integral part of this quest,' Reyna continued to Liam, further infuriating me, 'so I hope you can stay at Camp Jupiter a little longer—until I get the whole story.'

Liam made a great show of thinking about it. 'Well, since you've asked, I'll be glad to make an exception.' He gave her another brilliant smile but Reyna had already turned away. I grinned to myself; ha, take that!

'Take them to the infirmary,' Reyna ordered Bobby, 'make sure their injuries are tended to. After that bring them to the_ Principia_, I want the debriefing to happen away from prying eyes.'

Clearly she was referring to Octavian, but the augur wasn't in Camp. He'd managed to convince Reyna that needed a day to himself and had consequently disappeared. I'd seen him out myself, since I wasn't very trusting of his motives.

'Bring Piper as well,' I called after Bobby's back, 'she's probably on _The Argo._'

Bobby hesitated and glanced at Reyna to affirm the order and the familiar frustration of being powerless in my own home returned. Behind me, I heard Liam snort scornfully and mutter just loud enough for me to hear, 'completely useless.'

I ignored him and turned to Reyna, waiting for her to agree with me. She didn't; her face was set in a stony mask and she was deliberately not meeting my gaze.

My jaw tightened. 'Fine.' I said loudly, 'I'll go get her myself.'

And with that I stalked off, Liam's laughter ringing in my ears.


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: I haven't given up. I'm not even close to abandoning this... and c'mon guys; it's only be ten days or so. I've just been really busy and I worked on this in all of my free time. I swear!**

**Thanks for the reviews. And the hate mail. ;)**

* * *

><p><strong>36) I Begin To Question My Judgment.<strong>

**Jason-II**

'What d'you think they're talking about?'

Piper's whisper reached up to my ears and shook me out of my day dream, which involved me getting a cape, wearing the cape and flying. I blinked a couple of times, adjusting back to the surroundings around me. Piper and I were standing on the steps to the _Pricipia, _waiting for Reyna to show up and commence the debriefing.

A few feet away, Leo, Frank, Hazel and Liam stood in a circle, in the middle of a heated discussion. Or at least the former three were, the latter didn't seem to care less. Liam was looking around, an expression of boredom evident on his face.

Meanwhile, Hazel seemed to be refereeing a battle of words between Frank and Leo. It was in reference to their argument that Piper had spoken. I strained my ears, hoping to pick up a few stray words but Hazel was wise enough to keep the exchange at minimum volume.

Sighing, I sat down on one of the steps. 'I don't have a clue. Maybe they're fighting over who gets dibs on recounting what happened.'

After a moment's hesitation, Piper joined me on the step. 'Well, they're really passionate about storytelling then.'

I grinned at Piper's observation and glanced back at the others. From what I could see, Hazel was pleading with Frank about something while Leo looked on resolutely, occasionally interjecting on Hazel's behalf. Frank however, was frowning moodily and pointing accusing fingers at Leo, ignoring Hazel's pleas.

If it hadn't been for the sheer seriousness on all their faces, it might have passed for a sketch comedy.

'Unbelievable.' Piper muttered and I looked to where she was staring.

Two figures emerged from the gloom: Reyna and Percy. The latter's expression told me that this was the last place he wanted to be but the former's steely pose told me he hadn't been given much of a choice to make his demands be heard.

The argument between Hazel, Leo and Frank petered out as the two Praetors approached. Maybe it had something to do with Percy's general lack of humor.

'I'm glad you're all here; this shouldn't take too long.' Reyna said reassuringly, directing the last part of her sentence to Percy. Her eyes flashed towards me and an expression of brief distaste cross her face when she noticed who I was sitting next to.

Piper stiffened, and I saw her fingers curl around her jeans. I moved closer, wanting to tell her to ignore Reyna but she stood up, refusing to let me give her advice.

'How's Annabeth?' Piper asked, pointedly ignoring Reyna's scowl.

'Surviving.' Percy muttered darkly, to the ground. Reyna shot Piper a "shut up" look which the latter brushed off indifferently. Piper stepped forward and grasped Percy's free hand, startling him a little.

'Annabeth will pull through. She's a fighter.'

If anyone else had said those words (like, perhaps, me) it would be branded as cliché but Piper just had it in her to make reassurances work. A light glowed in Percy's eyes and a hint of hope touched his face.

'Thanks.'

'Of course she'll be fine,' Reyna broke in irritably, 'Max's working on her. He's the best in the Camp.'

Percy either didn't register or chose to disregard her words. I sighed and got to my feet, feeling as though I was standing on thin ice. Behind Percy I could see Frank glaring at Leo and Hazel's worried expression. A lot of emotions were brewing up –emotions I didn't want to deal with– and I was determined to steer everyone to business before it blew up.

'Let's just get this over it.' I said and pushed the door open, leading the way into the darkened room.

It took a while to get the lights on, and a further few minutes to get Aurum and Argentum to stop growling at all of us. Apparently we'd disturbed their night's sleep and they didn't take kindly to it. Argentum even tried to go for Liam's hand but the Greek pushed him away roughly, making things decidedly worse.

'Damn dogs,' he muttered angrily.

'Don't do that.' I snapped, feeling an irrational surge of protectiveness for the metal dog.

'Or what?' Liam asked, challengingly.

I glared at him, wanting to belt out almost all of the a hundred insults running through my head, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Piper step closer to listen to –and possibly diffuse– the argument. Maybe it was a point of pride for me but I didn't want somebody else saving me from the Greek. I could handle him on my own… as soon as I figured out how to.

'Sit down, everyone.' Reyna called, distracting me from the fight. I shot one last glare at Liam and moved to take my place next to Reyna. Surprisingly Piper sat down on my left, leaving me in a veritable no man's land. I could feel the tension radiating from both sides.

Percy, Frank, Hazel, Leo and Liam all took their places on the other side of the table. Clearly, the lines had been drawn.

'So,' Reyna said crisply, 'what exactly happened on your quest?'

* * *

><p>It took almost an hour for the entire story to be told. By an apparent earlier agreement, Hazel did most of the talking, leaving a few key parts for Leo to deliver. Frank didn't say a word during the entire hour, choosing to sit in sullen silence while Liam didn't look even remotely interested and took to annoying Argentum by clicking his fingers next to his ears repeatedly.<p>

Percy sat still, moving occasionally only to check the time.

It was a lot to take in. Honestly, the amount that had happened to them in two days seemed worthy of a thirty chapter book. It was almost like an overload of information and I had lots of technical questions—especially about the Pearls; what in the world were they and why hadn't they been found till now?

That and the failure of rescuing Nico made me feel a glimmer of sympathy for Percy. Sure he had the Curse of Achilles –which by the way was insanely cool, why wasn't there a Roman version of that? – But his friend was still in Gaia's clutches and his girlfriend was fighting a gripping battle against a deadly poison. I had my fair share of quests but this, by any scale, would definitely rate somewhere near the bottom.

'… and the rest you know.' Hazel finished, throwing a cautionary glance at Percy.

A heavy silence replaced her words and I couldn't help but watch Leo. He was drumming his fingers lightly on the table and as much as I wanted to attribute that to his ever present ADHD, I knew that that wasn't the case. There was something about the way he kept licking his lips, and the slight adjustments he kept making to his posture.

He was nervous.

And by the way his eyes flitted to Frank every few seconds; I figured that maybe the latter was the cause for his concern.

'I have a question.' Reyna stated, breaking the silence.

'Yes, Praetor?'

I frowned; Hazel seemed to be a little on edge too.

'For Leo,' Reyna clarified.

I studied her carefully. Her eyes were a little narrowed and she chewing her lower lip delicately. She was suspicious, I realized immediately; I knew her too well for her cool composure to fool me anymore.

'What's the problem?' Leo asked, attempting a grin.

Reyna spread her hands on the table, 'how did you manage to escape… Lityerses,' she stumbled on the name, clearly unfamiliar with it before continuing, 'while the others got caught?'

'What d'you mean?' Leo asked, far too quickly to make him seem innocent.

'If someone had to get away, I'd have thought it would be Percy.' Reyna said smoothly, 'or maybe Annabeth.'

There was a moment of tense silence as Leo tried to figure out how to answer the question thrown at him. I looked over all of them again and found signs of similarity in their postures. All of them, with the exception of Liam perhaps, weren't making eye contact. Their shoulders were bunched together as though they were trying to subconsciously protect themselves… or hide something.

Eventually, Leo cleared his throat. 'Well, it was pretty much fluke really. And besides, we were in Hephaestus Way; it gave me an advantage over the others.'

'So you miraculously escaped because the tunnel was created by your Father?' Reyna persisted.

'Hey—Leo's a good fighter!' Piper protested, from my left.

'I never said otherwise.' Reyna said coolly. I felt like hitting something; her childishness was worse than mine. Honestly, hadn't she heard of professionalism?

'However, I find it hard to believe that a mere tunnel helped Leo Valdez's case.' Reyna finished.

'You haven't been in that "mere tunnel."' Liam muttered to himself, drawing glances from all of us. I, however, kept an eye on Leo. As good as he was with fixing things; he was quite a terrible liar. He was definitely not telling us something.

And by the others' faces, they'd decided to go along with his decision… except for Frank. He looked like he had something to say but Hazel shook her head minutely at him and he looked away.

'What I don't get is how _you_ showed up just in time to save the day.' I said to Liam loudly, wanting to draw Reyna's scrutiny away from Leo and also give vent to my frustrations. Leo might have been hiding something—but I trusted him. The Son of Demeter who'd appeared out of nowhere however was a different case all together.

Liam shrugged indifferently, 'some people have a knack for that.'

'Either that or they _know _when something's about to go wrong.'

Liam's jaw tightened and I felt a glimmer of satisfaction for having gotten under his guard. The Greek turned away from Argentum and surveyed me coolly.

'Are you _suggesting_ that I work for Gaia?'

I kept my voice even, 'You knew all her moves before they happened. Either you're really lucky or, well…'

I trailed off, injecting just the right amount of hostility into my words. At my side, Reyna was watching Liam intently and I saw her hand move unobtrusively to her _pugio. _So clearly, my opinions about the stranger weren't based on personal directives. There was something sinister about him.

Against all odds, Liam smiled. 'Tell me Jason Grace, are you always this _blind _to reality?'

I gritted my teeth but kept it together. I'd learned my lesson. 'Do you work for Gaia?'

Liam sighed and said mockingly, 'yes, of course I do. It's all part of her great master plan to put a spy in your precious camp.'

His words seemed to solidify the air around us. Reyna leaned forward and the dogs began to growl threateningly under the table. I glared at the Greek, trying to calculate my chances against him. I was a pretty decent fighter but a Roman is always told to never underestimate an opponent. We did that against the Huns and they, well… held the empire to ransom on several occasions.

Percy stirred, breaking the moment, 'just answer the question, Liam.'

The Greek rolled his eyes. 'If I was working for Gaia; you guys wouldn't be alive right now. And if I decided to switch loyalties along the way, you guys _still _wouldn't be alive right now.'

I couldn't fault his logic but I'd played enough poker to know a double bluff could be very real. It was a catch 22 situation really. Either we let him go and he told his monster friends about Camp or we just held him hostage and—actually; the latter idea didn't sound so bad at all.

'I can't see a fault with your explanation,' Reyna spoke, ignoring my silent protests against trusting the stranger, 'but I would much prefer if you didn't stay at this Camp much longer.'

'Suits me,' Liam said, going back to annoying Argentum, 'but I'll hang around till Annabeth wakes up, if it's all the same to you.'

Reyna pursed her lips but didn't say anything. I caught her eye and raised my eyebrows: were we actually going to let some tramp off the street dictate terms to _us_? She blinked once and looked away, signaling me to keep a lid on it. I sank back into my chair, wishing (far more than ever) that I had my Praetor's badge to wave around.

'Are we done then?' Percy asked, making as if to rise from his chair. His eyes were hollow and the lines on his forehead stood out more than ever. 'You've heard what happened so I don't see—'

'Actually,' Reyna interrupted him smoothly, drawing out a very familiar sheet of paper from her pocket and sliding it across the table, 'you and Jason need to talk about your quest to Rome.'

Defiance flared in Percy's eyes. 'We don't have to do it right now.'

'Well,' I said cautiously, 'now that we're all here, it makes sense to do it right now.'

Percy glared at me. 'Are you attempting to be funny?'

'Look,' Reyna said firmly, not giving me a chance to reply, 'You can't do anything productive by watching—'

'_I don't care!_' Percy stood up, anger blazing across his face. It was with great difficulty I managed to not reach for my sword. Next to me, Reyna flinched and the _pugio _appeared in her hand.

'I don't care,' Percy repeated, slamming a hand down on the table causing the dogs underneath to whine, 'if I don't do anything productive. I don't care if you think it's a waste of time. But I am going to stand and watch her struggle to live, and feel completely useless. Because that is what I do.'

He was trembling, I realized a second later. Percy was actually trembling. He seemed like he was on the edge of a dark bottomless pit and was very close to falling in. There was a sort of madness echoing in his eyes and for the first time since I met him, I felt a frission of fear travel up my spine. There are many horrible things in life—but none of them come close to a deranged demigod.

'Percy,' Piper said quietly, her musical voice cutting through the tight atmosphere. I glanced at her and saw an expression of utmost tenderness on her face—which I didn't quite understand. She was talking to the equivalent of a wild animal. Shouldn't she be a little scared?

'We don't know each other that well,' Piper continued soothingly, 'in fact we've barely even met… but I know Annabeth and I would like to think that we're good friends.'

There was utmost silence as Piper spoke. Even the dogs under the table had shut up.

'I know that she would like you to deal with your responsibilities first… before thinking about her. I understand; you're terrified, and you feel you have to be there…'

Piper's voice trembled a little but she went on, 'but hovering over the medic's head isn't going to make things better. You know that.'

Percy didn't say anything. He continued standing, looking as if he were in a trance.

'So please; just bear with us a little longer. I promise we won't keep you away any longer than we have to.'

There wasn't even a little bit of charmspeak in her voice, which surprised me a little, I guess. She didn't break eye contact with Percy either, and when he blinked, looking a little dazed, I knew a little bit of what he was experiencing.

Sometimes, Piper had the ability to clear a muddled head. At other times, she had the ability to open whole new vistas of possibilities to your mind.

Percy sighed and rubbed his eyes before collapsing into his chair once more. He didn't look crazy anymore; instead he looked incredibly exhausted. Frank reached over and patted his back while Hazel said something reassuring.

'Thank you.' Reyna said, with grudging admiration, not specifying of course who she was speaking to. Still; it wasn't a huge mystery.

I glanced to my left and saw Piper smiling just a little bit.

'What is this?' Percy asked, picking up the sheet and reminding me that it was time to get down to business.

'It's half the crew of _The Argo_; thought you might want to take a look at it.' I said carefully, figuring it would be better to ease Percy into what I'd done in the past two days while.

Percy stared at the paper for a second and then passed it over to Frank immediately. 'Could you read it out?'

Frank looked a little surprised but then became oddly pleased as though Percy's reliance on him was some sort of nod of approval. He smoothened the paper and began reading off the names quickly.

'Lena Riley, Eric Rutherford, Anthony Webber… hold on,' Frank raised an eyebrow at me, 'you're bringing Webber along with us?'

'Who's Webber?' Percy interjected tiredly.

'The other Centurion of the First Cohort.' Frank informed him.

I waited, wondering if Percy was going to object, but he shrugged and muttered something about "let him come on this death quest if he wants to" and motioned Frank to continue but Frank didn't seem ready to let it go.

'But Webber hates Greeks! He'll never agree to come for this.'

'Centurion Webber is a brilliant soldier.' I said firmly, feeling as though it was time to defend my decision—even if it originated from Reyna's advice in the first place. 'And I intend to persuade him before the Senate meeting tomorrow.'

Frank bit his lip but didn't say anything. Percy however was frowning.

'Octavian hasn't petitioned to come?' He asked, worry creasing his forehead again.

I couldn't help the grin that appeared on my face. 'He asked for leave yesterday; I can't help it if he missed his chance.'

Reyna gave a disapproving snort at my words but Percy nodded at me when she wasn't looking. Clearly, we both shared opinions about Octavian. As long as the snake wasn't around—we felt way better about our chances of succeeding.

'So anyway; I figured we can pick the other half of the crew once we get back to Camp Half-Blood,' I continued authoritatively, laying out all the facts on the table, 'that, of course will be at your discretion.'

'_If _the Senate approves of this tomorrow, that is.' Reyna reminded me, sounding a little cranky. I rolled my eyes at the ceiling and noticed that Liam seemed to be rather interested in the conversation. He'd even stopped teasing Argentum.

'What about the seventh member?' Piper asked, throwing the room back into silence. Reyna stiffened next to me but kept her gaze on the table. I wanted to put in a bid for her but I had a feeling she'd probably cut my tongue out so I simmered quietly on my own.

'The seventh member is the least of our problems,' Percy waved away the question, slumping back in his chair and idly scratching Aurum's snout, 'what about the food problem?'

'Ah,' I said doubtfully, 'we haven't had any brainwaves about that.'

Percy blew out his cheeks and glanced around the room either looking for inspiration or for a way out—I couldn't tell.

'Can't we just pack in some stuff and take it? Tinned stuff?' Frank put in, looking a lot more alive from his earlier sullen self.

'For forty people?' I asked countered. 'We don't even know how long the voyage is going to last.'

There was a lot more contemplative silence after that and I saw Percy's eye stray towards the door more than once. I couldn't help but think that if Annabeth was around she'd have thought of a solution. It was totally in her department.

'I'd like to make a deal.' Liam said suddenly.

'Sorry; what?' I attempted in my politest tone.

He ignored me and turned to Percy. 'I can solve your food problem, but I want something in return.'

Percy raised an eyebrow, clearly unsure about the turn of events. He tapped the table lightly with his fingers and finally shrugged, 'how're you gonna solve the problem?'

Liam grinned and from his pocket he took out something—a little sky blue sphere of pulsing light. Leo winced when he looked at it and even the others drew back a little in awe.

'What is that?' I asked, completely confused.

Liam snorted, 'you didn't listen too well to Hazel; did you Grace?'

Reyna drew in a hiss of air, distracting me. Her eyes were wide and her hand was gripping her _pugio _tightly again. 'That's it?' She asked in fascination, 'that's one of the Pearls?'

I grimaced and swung around to face Percy, 'I thought Annabeth had one of them? You let this _clown _handle another?'

'It isn't the original one.' Percy said defensively, 'it's a copy.'

'And yet, still powerful enough for your needs.' Liam slid in smoothly. He spun the marble on the table, and it glinted in the dim light of the lights, throwing sparkles across the table. As it neared my hand I became aware of the power contained within the orb; it made my skin itch.

Liam gave me nasty grin and scooped up the Pearl, holding it between his thumb and forefinger. 'I can guarantee you fresh food and water for a month—maybe even more.'

'How?' I demanded, leaning forward and fighting a sudden urge to grab the Pearl away from the Greek.

'The blessings of the gods…' Liam drawled, 'I'm pretty sure it has enough juice to work as a big freezer.'

'And you'll use it for our benefit?' Percy asked suspiciously, 'what do you want in return?'

Liam shrugged, 'nothing too terrible.'

'What. Do. You. Want?' I asked through gritted teeth. I didn't like the sound of this one bit. The circumstances surrounding the Greek's presence was already annoying me—there was no way I was letting him cut a deal with us.

'I want to join your voyage, as part of the ship's –whatever its name is– crew.' Liam said simply, twisting the Pearl around in the palm of his hand.

'No.' I said, crossing my arms, and glaring at the Greek; daring at him to cross me.

'That's not your decision.' Liam's blue eyes were regarding me coldly but I wasn't backing down.

'Like hell it isn't—' I growled but he cut me off, his tone becoming steely as well.

'I'm Greek; Perseus calls the shots on that half of the crew… or am I mistaken?' Liam raised an eyebrow, the very picture of innocence.

'I don't care if you're Lupa's own cub; you are not coming on the voyage.' I said hotly, standing up and ignoring Piper's restraining arm.

'Jason, can we talk about—' Percy began, but I wrenched the chair away and stalked around the table, coming nose to nose with Liam. The dogs stood up as well, responding to the tension in the room and fell into harmonious growls.

'You think you got this all figured out, don't you?' I said, not feeling intimidated in the least by the fact that Greek had a good two inches on me, 'but this quest is led by both of us—which means if _I_ don't approve; _you can't come_.'

Liam held my gaze for a moment and I saw his eyes narrow in disgust before he turned to Percy, choosing to disregard whatever I'd said. 'You know I can help on this… you need someone like me to watch your back.'

I looked at Percy as well and he shifted uncomfortably under both gazes. The air was very still in the room. Anger simmered through me as Percy appeared to contemplate Liam's words. I was saying "no," wasn't that reason enough for Percy to agree with me? After all, we'd decided to respect each other's opinion and what he was doing was both undermining my authority and blatantly disregarding the agreement we'd come to.

'Can you give us a minute to discuss this?' Percy said eventually, adopting an expression of neutrality.

Liam didn't seem very surprised at the request. He headed for the door without a word, stopping only to flick Argentum's nose and just before he exited he turned around and gave me a very exaggerated wink.

Curling my fingers into the palms of my hands, I rounded on Percy. 'No. Absolutely not. He can't come.'

'Why not?' Percy challenged, his green eyes flickering with an undefined emotion.

'Because I don't trust him!' I nearly yelled. 'He turns up out of nowhere, miraculously ends up being the hero of the day and now conveniently wants to come along on the one chance we have to stop Gaia!'

I stopped to take a deep breath, aware that losing my temper would probably not earn me brownie points in the discussion. 'I mean; what has he done for you to even consider this?'

'Well,' Percy said quietly, 'if Annabeth survives today—it'll be because of Liam.'

A very pointed silence followed his words. Leo was spread his hands in a gesture of apology and I understood that I wouldn't be getting any support from him. Even Piper appeared more interested in thinking about the idea after Percy's statement.

'You can't be serious.' I muttered.

'I am.' Percy was back to looking tired as hell, 'in fact, he saved us all—even when he didn't have a reason to.' For some reason Percy threw Leo a dirty look, as though he was blaming him for being in debt to Liam.

'Percy, if Annabeth survives—which I have no doubt she will,' I added hastily when I saw Piper quietly face palm at my choice of words, 'it'll be because of Max, not because of that…'

I nearly said _Greek _but I caught myself just in time. Even so, I think Percy knew what I was about to end with because an ugly frown took over his face.

'You hate him, don't you?'

I blinked, blindsided by the choice of words.

'You hate him,' Percy repeated in an increasingly hostile tone, 'just because he's Greek. Isn't that it?'

'What, no—!' I was backtracking as quickly as I could but he stood up, and his pen-sword thing, appeared in his hand. The crazy cloud was back in his eyes.

'Well let me tell you Jason Grace,' Percy said dangerously, 'I didn't see any of your _Roman healers _rush to Annabeth's rescue.'

'That has nothing to—'

'And if you must know,' Percy continued, ignoring my protests completely, 'I'm beginning to suspect Octavian, who –the last time I checked– was part of _this _Camp.'

'Enough,' Reyna cut in before I had a chance to say anything. She stood up as well, an equally annoyed expression on her face. 'You're the Praetor of this camp,' she told Percy, 'that is no way to talk about it.'

'"Praetor",' Percy snorted, 'a fat lot of good the position has done for me.'

'That position is cherished and honored,' I said, angry that he'd bought the argument down to something so personal, 'if you don't want it; step down.'

'Oh; you'd like that won't you?' Percy took a step near me and I saw his fingers tightening around his pen. I felt the hair on my arm stand up, sensing the danger and I rested my hand on the hilt of my sword, ready to pull it out at a moment's notice.

'You'd love to take this purple cloak off me, wouldn't you?' Percy continued, tauntingly. His mouth was twisted in a sneer and I couldn't help but feel a rush of hatred as I stared at him. He was a _Greek _who'd come and taken _my _place. He was impulsive and lacked discipline. He didn't know how to respect age old structures and traditions. And he was emotionally compromised because of the fact that his girlfriend was hurt. What kind of a leader was he?

'If you_ must _know_, _I think you suck as a Praetor.' I said and a whiff of ozone filtered through the room. I wasn't scared of the Son of Poseidon. I'd trained with his Greeks for six months. I knew his moves better than he did. And he'd had almost no legion training. I easily held the advantage.

Piper stood up, and we both flinched, obviously thinking she was another target. Looking at the fire in her eyes; she might have well been.

'Are you even _listening _to yourselves?' She hissed, pointing at both of us, 'you sound like a couple of testosterone-fuelled idiots from _Jersey Shore._'

Leo snorted, attempting to contain his laughter and that broke the spell I'd fallen under. I blinked, and backed away, feeling queasy about what had nearly taken place. Sure; I wasn't the biggest fan of Percy Jackson but was skewering him really the answer to my problems?

Percy looked shaken up as well and he looked at the pen in his hand with acute amazement as though he had no idea where it'd come from.

'Sit down,' Piper ordered, 'all three of you.' She added, gesturing to Reyna as well.

Feeling a little dazed, I got back into my seat without a word. It was only when I found myself staring at the table did I realize that Piper had charmspoken us.

'Wha—?' Percy frowned at his hands, 'what just happened?'

'Never mind.' Piper said quickly. 'Can you guys just focus on arriving at a consensus on the issue at hand and not keep drawing weapons?'

'Liam's not coming.' I announced, keeping my tone firm. 'There's no way I'm allowing it.'

Percy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His eyes found mine and I saw that he wasn't feeling too charitable towards me, even if he didn't particularly want to get into a fight. Whatever; I didn't care.

'What he said was technically true. I have control over the Greek half of the crew.' Percy pointed out into a strained silence. I licked my lips and forced my words to not sound accusatory.

'We _agreed_ we'd work on this together.' I said, 'do you want him to come that badly that you're willing to go back on your word?'

'It's not about wanting him to come!' Percy huffed, sounding frustrated, 'he's giving us an easy solution to the only major problem we have! How do you not see that?'

'Because he's unpredictable.' I argued back, 'and I don't trust him. At all.'

'Fine.' Percy spread his hands, surprisingly conceding the point to me. 'Fine,' he repeated, 'but are you willing to risk your crew starving to death just because you didn't trust some guy?'

I didn't have anything to say that so Percy carried on. 'And he's a good fighter. He's smart, he's resourceful and he's excellent under pressure.'

I leaned back in my chair, wishing I'd have worked out some sort of veto agreement earlier. Was I being paranoid about Liam? No, I decided a second later. There was something odd about him and I knew without a doubt that if we took him along, he would come back to bite us.

I caught Leo's eye and he shrugged.

'Liam's not all that bad, man.'

I blew out my cheeks, knowing that I was outmatched. Still, I wasn't going to let go without making my point completely clear. 'Let him come then…'

Percy let out a relived sigh.

'…but,' I sharpened my tone, making sure that he was listening to me carefully, 'when we actually have a chance at defeating Gaia and he turns around and stabs you in the back…'

For some unknown reason, Percy flinched noticeably.

'… then—'

'—then you get to say "I told you so."' He finished for me quietly.

I nodded and he looked down, showing that he'd heard me and was accepting responsibility for the decision. I slumped back in my chair, feeling curiously drained. Frank got up and headed to the door, which he knocked on twice.

Liam appeared a second later and as he entered the room, he interpreted the atmosphere correctly and gave me a sardonic grin, 'sorry Grace; maybe another day you'll win.'

Percy looked up and glared at the Greek. 'Shut up, Liam.'

Surprisingly Liam sat down without another word. Reyna shifted next to me and I glanced at her, wondering what was eating at her.

'If you stay on _The Argo _for a couple of nights, then I won't have to announce your presence to anyone… at least officially.'

I grinned to myself, imagining the consequences if the Senate got to know that _another _Greek had entered Camp. It would be the equivalent of a political earthquake, something which could provide someone –like, say Octavian– with a lot of dirt to shower on the Praetor and question his or her leadership.

'Whatever.' Liam muttered. He'd gone back into his indifferent phase, which suited me perfectly fine.

'Okay, one last thing before you can go.' Reyna said, nodding to Percy, 'the Senate meeting is at nine tomorrow morning. I've arranged for both you and Jason to speak… so try and make your arguments convincing.'

'You don't honestly think they'll vote _against _us?' I asked, incredulously.

Reyna shrugged, 'it's best to be prepared.'

'Is there anything else?' Percy wanted to know.

Reyna paused a moment and glanced around. Then she heaved a tired sigh as well and picked up the sheet of names. 'No; you're all free to go.'

Percy got up immediately but hesitated a little. 'If anyone needs me for anything…' he paused and then said, as though the words hurt him, '…I'll be in the infirmary.'

Chairs began to get pulled back and the questers rose with sighs of relief. I tried to try a last ditch effort to talk Reyna around into joining the voyage as well but she turned away from me and headed for the table with the two Praetor chairs, making it clear she wanted to be left alone. Feeling slightly bitter, I headed out into the cool night, just behind Piper.

'Hey; guys?'

Leo appeared, looking slightly panicky as he stepped in front of me and Piper.

'Would you mind hanging around a little? I have er,.. something to tell you both.'

'Right now?' Piper looked at him with concern.

'Yeah…' Leo stopped and turned around catching sight of somebody who I couldn't see. He frowned and then remembered he still had a conversation to finish with us.

'Yeah, so,' Leo rushed on, 'actually could you give me a minute, I need to go erm.. talk to someone.'

'Um, sure..?' Piper said uncertainly. Leo gave her a quick grin and scampered off, blending into the shadows so I couldn't see where he was going. I snorted and kicked at a nearby pebble, taking a few steps under nearby streetlamp.

'Are you okay?' Piper followed me, though she preferred to stand just outside the pool of light.

'No.' I answered honestly and leaned against the iron column behind me.

'Jason… c'mon, Percy wasn't questioning your opinion; he was just trying to make you look past it.'

As usual Piper hit the nail on the head. I rolled my shoulders, not even sure who I was pissed off with. Piper, Reyna, the _Greek, _they were all really annoying me. Adding to that the whole thing which the questers weren't telling us… I couldn't even imagine how the trip to Rome was going to happen.

And what happened if Annabeth didn't survive the night…?

I pushed the thought away and concentrated on the thing that depressed me the least. 'Could you tell they were hiding something too? Or am I just being paranoid?'

Piper whistled –it had a nice clear ring to it– and thought about my words. 'It reminds me of that episode I saw of _Criminal Minds. _One of the creepier ones.'

'You're relating this to what happened… on a TV show?'

Piper stepped closer and grinned at me, her eyes sparkling blue in the yellow light. 'Don't knock my theory just yet, it makes sense.'

'Fine, fine, go for it.'

She took a moment to compose her thoughts and then began speaking, her voice low and full of emotion. 'Okay, so six kids go into the woods for a picnic—'

'Like six Red Riding Hoods?' I interjected, smiling as she scowled at me.

'Shut up. They were like, sixteen. Anyway; one of them really hated this guy; I dunno, I think he was her ex-boyfriend or something…'

The wind blew, and I heard one of Lupa's wolves howl far away. Normally, I was totally cool with animal sounds but this just added to the mystery of Piper's story. Without meaning to, I shivered.

'… so in the dark, she killed him and—'

'How?' I interrupted and this time I was genuinely interested in knowing.

Piper, however, flicked it off, 'it doesn't matter. Anyway; she told the others what she'd done soon after and they all panicked, electing to bury the body and tell no one.'

'What has this got to with Leo and the rest?' I unfolded my arms and rested my palms against my jeans, 'unless you're suggesting that they killed someone.'

'Jason,' Piper said tiredly, 'please shut up.'

I smiled widely and she blew out her cheeks.

'I'm just saying, the other four kids got dragged into something they didn't have anything to do with… maybe something similar happened to Percy and the others.'

I thought about the parallels and in my mind's eye I saw a girl beating a poor helpless guy to death. For some reason the girl looked a lot like Reyna. I shuddered again and looked up to find Piper watching me carefully.

Uncomfortable under her scrutiny, I cast around for something to distract her. 'Okay, so if something like that _did_ happen to them… then which one is the instigator?'

'Good question.' Piper shrugged, looking up into the sky. 'I bet you think its Liam.'

'Hey; I _really _don't trust that guy.' I said, annoyed all over again because the Greek's name had come up.

'Relax Jason; I'm not a big fan of his either.' Piper grinned and took another step closer to me.

'No?' I shoved my hands into my pockets, 'you don't think he's… I dunno, good looking?'

Piper's eyes sparkled with amusement. 'I find, ah, very select people good looking.'

The wolf howled again but this time I didn't find it scary. Piper's smile was so warm that it seemed to melt away all my problems. It seemed safe, almost protective and suddenly, I wished that I could claim it only for myself. I was struggling on my own, and in the dark… Piper was like a lighthouse in the middle of a storm.

Leo burst into the scene, causing Piper and I to jump apart. He was grinning widely as though he'd just won something and he seemed to be bouncing on the balls of his feet.

'Ah; good. You guys are still here. Awesome, awesome, awesome.'

'Leo,' Piper said warily, 'what's going on?'

Her tone obviously had some sort of effect on Leo because he took a deep breath to calm himself and his excited demeanor faded a little. He looked around hesitantly and I could almost hear the cogs turning in his head. He was debating over whether to let out whatever he'd hidden or just brush it off and pretend that it'd never happen.

Eventually, his shoulders dropped and he examined his fingernails. 'I think… I need you tell you the truth.'

'Tell us the truth about what?' Piper asked, moving forward to reach for his shoulder.

Leo backed away immediately and looked up, guilt evident all over his face. 'The truth about what really happened on the quest.'


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N: One of my longest chapters yet. Finally got around to doing Piper; I figured that since the story is pretty much nearly over (a couple of chapters left) I should let her have her say too. Anyway, I hope this addresses some of your burning questions about the title.**

**As always, my sincere thanks to all my reviewers. **

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><p><strong>37) I Experience Some Divine Intervention<strong>

**Piper**

It was overwhelming.

The things happening around me were overwhelming. I was standing around in the middle of Field of Mars, watching a little less than five hundred people hustle and bustle around me. In front of me was a huge structure—kind of like a scaled down version of the Coliseum. Reyna had ordered its construction only in the morning and within twelve hours it'd been built. On every flat surface banners had been spread, marking out the different legions. Several of them even had the Praetors' faces adorning them and one even had Hannibal the elephant in full war mode.

Just off centre and on an elevated platform of their own were the standards of the five cohorts. They stood in a line, shining gold. In the centre was Camp Jupiter's pride: The Golden Eagle, gleaming as though somebody had polished it for an entire day.

_Romans_, I thought to myself, _really have too much free time on their hands. _

I picked my way across the vast supports careful not to bump into any of the armed legionaries stationed around. Inside the Coliseum look a-like was a grand centre stage—upon which I glimpsed Reyna standing around, issuing orders briskly. I didn't like her much –she was far too cold and authoritative for me– but even I had to admit that she knew how to get things done.

After all, the idea had only come up _after _the Senate meeting—which thankfully, went off well, for all involved. Percy's and Jason's speeches had been well received and we'd won the support of the Senate with an overwhelming majority. Adding to that, Jason had personally gone up to each person he'd selected and formally proposed that they join _The Argo II's _crew—a gesture which had added hugely to his popularity.

Even the guy who'd Frank objected to last night –something Webber I think– had agreed to come though it had taken a lot of convincing from Jason for that to happen. All in all, it had been a successful day…

... especially when you added something else to the equation. I caught sight of a flash of blond hair and slipped through a group of older demigods, angling towards it. Sitting on one of the carpeted steps was a very weak but very alive Annabeth Chase.

'I thought they'd told you to stay in bed.' I grinned, remembering the relief I'd felt earlier when the medics had _finally _declared her stable at two in the morning. Jason and I had still been awake, listening to Leo's story for the tenth time when Frank had come to us with the good news.

We hadn't been allowed to see her then so I'd cooled my heels patiently throughout the day, knowing that Annabeth would never miss out on something as important as Reyna formally pledging support to the Greek's in front of the residents of Camp Jupiter and New Rome.

'_They _don't know what they're talking about,' Annabeth said stretching stiffly, 'I feel fine.'

'Your boyfriend might disagree.' I said, referring to Percy's near maniacal protectiveness of Annabeth ever since she'd woken up.

Annabeth grimaced, 'shh, quiet. I'm hiding from him.'

I raised an eyebrow, 'here? You're in plain sight of everyone.'

A surprisingly crafty grin appeared on Annabeth's face. Even though she looked pale and weak, her eyes glowed with vitality, indicating that despite taking a beating from the poison, she was the one who won the battle.

'Percy often tries too hard to think like me. He'll probably pass right by without noticing.' Annabeth said confidently. I watched her, wondering rather morbidly about what would have happened if she'd actually died.

'Anyway,' she continued, drawing me back to happy reality, 'where's Leo? I haven't seen him around.'

Her words reminded me of all the arguments Jason and Leo had had last night after Leo had come clean with us. Personally, I was more on the sympathy side of Leo's position. His dad had put him between a rock and a hard place and he'd done the best he could. Besides, he'd come through later, making sure he saved his friends. In my head the rights cancelled out the wrongs and left him with a clean slate.

Jason, however, hadn't felt the same way. In fact, he'd become more than a little angry and had subsequently blamed Leo for a variety of things—including Liam's presence, which didn't make any sense to me but I didn't bother calling him on it.

For whatever reasons, Leo's totally justified betrayal had struck a chord inside Jason. They'd avoided each other all day, even choosing to sit far apart during the Senate meeting.

'He's umm, spending time with Hazel.' I said nonchalantly, 'apparently they've become pretty good friends.'

Annabeth's gaze was a little too understanding, 'he told you then?'

I blew my cheeks out and glanced up, looking for anything that would change the topic. 'He mentioned a couple of things which Reyna doesn't know about.'

Very considerately, Annabeth dropped the subject. She leaned back and massaged her abdomen lightly, hissing quietly in pain. Concerned, I moved forward, patting my pockets to see if I had any ambrosia left.

'You shouldn't have come out.' I muttered, holding out a squashed piece for her to eat.

Annabeth waved it away, 'it's a passing spasm. They'll probably give me some more of that horrible antidote—'

'There you are!' Percy's unsurprised voice broke in and he appeared out of the crowd, looking less then pleased by the fact that his girlfriend was openly flouting official instructions.

'Oh, hey Perce. I've been looking all over for you.' Annabeth's tone was so bland that I couldn't help but grin.

Percy scowled, 'you should be in bed.'

'And you,' Annabeth pointed mock-childishly, 'should be up on that stage projecting a united front with Jason and Reyna.'

'Where is Jason anyway?' I interjected before Percy had a chance to respond. He blinked, surprised and then an expression of acute irritability crossed his face.

'With Reyna. They're arguing about something.'

'Oh.' I said, ignoring the painful contraction of my stomach. It was no secret that Jason and Reyna had a sort of _thing_. But what I didn't know was how far it extended. Passing crushes were fine; I just hoped they didn't have some sort of rock hard solid foundation like Percy and Annabeth. Because that would seriously suck for me.

I glanced around, listening half-heartedly to the argument which had erupted between Percy and Annabeth and caught sight of Leo. He and Hazel were hanging around, a little apart from the other Greeks or Romans and were having a fairly serious discussion. By the way Leo was listening intently; I could tell that his interests in Hazel were more than just friendship driven.

I snorted; even _Leo _had managed to find someone. Was I the only one who'd _lost _someone over to the Romans instead of the other way round?

'—which is why, you shouldn't bother. Right, Piper?' Annabeth said emphatically, drawing me back into the conversation.

'I—what?' I frowned, looking between them both and wondering which side I should take.

'Apparently, I'm being annoying.' Percy stated, his nostrils flaring in annoyance ever so slightly.

'_Very _annoying.' Annabeth corrected, mildly.

I saw Percy's fingers curl into fists and I intervened before things got out of hand. 'Hey, guys, let's just concentrate on the fact that we're returning to Camp Half-Blood tomorrow, hm?'

If I was hoping for an enthusiastic response from Percy, I was sorely disappointed. He grimaced as though I'd given him the worst news and ran a distracted hand through his hair. I glanced at Annabeth, wondering if she could shed some light on his behavior and found her eyes narrowed in analysis.

Thankfully, Jason appeared on the scene, and saved me from committing another social faux pas. 'Oh good, you're here; let's go.'

I raised an eyebrow, wondering if he was talking to me but he laid a hand on Percy's shoulder, effectively clearing up the misunderstanding.

Percy looked surprised, 'go where?'

Jason's eyes were swirling with suppressed annoyance but I had a feeling they weren't directed at me or Percy. I wondered about how badly the argument must have gone with Reyna for Jason to appear to so aggravated.

'Reyna's insisting that you have to say a few words.'

Percy shook his head immediately, 'I've talked enough for one day; I'm not coming.'

Jason's shoulders were like hard ridges. 'Yes, but Reyna—'

'Tell Reyna that you're the one who the crowd wants to hear.' Percy interrupted wearily. 'I'm not coming.'

I could tell that Jason didn't appreciate being sent off like a messenger but to his credit he didn't say anything. He gritted his teeth for a moment but then whirled around on his feet and stalked off.

I watched him go, troubled. 'Is he okay?'

Percy shrugged indifferently. 'He and Reyna have been disagreeing since the morning. And the Liam fiasco didn't help.'

I winced; Liam had publicly baited Jason during the Senate gathering which nearly had disastrous results except Reyna had stepped in and dealt with the manner efficiently. That, if anything, had only made Jason angrier. I understood that he didn't like people fighting his battles—but I wasn't sure if Reyna knew that. Or if she did, she clearly didn't respect it.

_Romans, _I thought sadly to myself again.

I blew out my cheeks and suddenly noticed that Percy was staring at Annabeth in a kind of quiet, gritty way which made me feel a little awkward. Annabeth was of course, studying her nails and completely oblivious to the changed atmosphere.

'I'm gonna—I'm gonna go find a place to sit, okay?' I said airily, not to anyone in particular. Percy acknowledged my statement with a polite nod while Annabeth looked up in confusion, protests already forming.

'No, I have to sort of—do this thing.' I said quickly and plunged into the crowd before my embarrassment started showing. For a minute, I didn't know where to go. Jason was stuck with Reyna, Annabeth with Percy and Leo with Hazel. All my close friends were too busy for me—something which I'd never encountered for the last six months.

Feeling a little annoyed, I glanced around and found the Greek contingent, sitting on one of the first few rows. Will Solace and the rest were clearly having a splendid time, so I decided not to feel sorry for myself and traced my steps towards them.

* * *

><p>'—and so, we wish them the best of luck on their endeavors, and we pray for their safe return. Ave!' Reyna finished, raising her arm a tad bit dramatically, causing the rest of the spectators to follow. It was actually impressive—half a thousand people raising their arms in salute for our journey across the Atlantic. <em>Now<em> _if only we had inspirational music in the background, _I thought cynically, joining the applause that had broken out after Reyna dropped her arm.

'There Romans,' Will Solace muttered next to me, 'talk far too much.'

I grinned. Thank the gods someone else shared my views. 'They do, don't they? Plus the dozens of traditions they have—it's almost like a small city-state.'

Will wrinkled his nose as a band struck up in the corner, playing martial music. 'Everything is so… organized.'

Katie and I both burst into laughter and a couple of Romans sitting in front of us turned around and scowled. I couldn't care less—by this time tomorrow, I would be back home and frankly I couldn't wait. Camp Half-Blood was so safe compared to this Camp Jupiter's political _mess. _It was as though everyone in Camp Jupiter had an ulterior motive. I had no idea how Jason had survived twelve years in it.

Will yawned, 'I feel like going to bed. Don't we have an early start tomorrow?'

'Seven in the morning.' Katie confirmed and then her tone turned concerned, 'that is if Annabeth's fit enough to travel.'

Will's expression turned brooding. 'She is, but I want Chiron to take a look at her as soon as we reach.' He paused and then added, disgruntled, 'unicorn horn shavings. What were they _thinking?_'

'Hey, as long as Annabeth's okay.' I said quickly, keeping an eye on the Romans in front of us. They looked positively murderous and after a brief exchange, they got up and shifted seats.

'Hey—how many Romans does it take to change a light bulb?' Travis broke in from behind, his smirk looking decidedly evil in the dancing torchlight.

'Just tell us, Stoll.' Katie said wearily. Will rolled his eyes at me and I fought down my giggles. The Stoll brothers' terrible jokes had taken a heavy toll on Katie and her siblings.

'Fifty. One to change it and forty-nine to debate over whether it's the right thing to do.' Connor answered and he and his brother broke into a fit of laughter which spread up and down the Greek ranks. I didn't laugh but it was a close thing. The Senate meeting had bored the Stolls to tears. It was hugely impressive that they hadn't pulled off a prank to entertain themselves.

'Hey—hey I got one!' Jake Mason chimed in but he was interrupted when a figure pushed itself on stage, creating such havoc that it drew the attention of everyone sitting in the Coliseum.

With his slight build and his mad eyes, Octavian, the Camp's Augur had just taken the spotlight.

'What the hell is he doing here?' Will whispered and I couldn't help but wonder the same. Octavian hadn't been present in Camp for two days. He hadn't even bothered to show up for the Senate meeting, which had made Jason's work that much easier. Reyna had simply stated his leave of absence as purely voluntary and had continued with the proceedings, looking considerably more relieved.

'This _cannot _be good.' I muttered and glanced around, my gaze catching Jason's eye across the vast space. He gave me a slight shake of his head –I had no idea what _that _meant– before jumping down, out of my sight.

Octavian meanwhile had spread his arms out wide as though he wanted to embrace all the people in front of him. 'Friends, Romans and countrymen,' he started, his voice echoing slightly as the population fell silent to hear him, 'lend me your ears.'

'Oh come one! That is _so_ cliché.' Travis complained but I shushed him, fearing that his voice would carry across the crowd. It was no secret that Greeks weren't favored guests in New Rome and with Octavian speaking; the hospitality extended to us would only lessen.

'Many of you must have wondered where I've been for the past few days.' Octavian dropped his arms but shuffled forward, emphasizing that he had nothing but love for his fellow Romans. 'As you know Rome has witnessed some turbulent times this past week—Camp Jupiter was attacked; the enemy was at our very _door.' _

Octavian paused, his voice shaking with emotion as though the mere thought of people other than Romans trampling over his precious ground was too much to bear. His posture shifted, angling towards us, the Greeks.

'And then,' Octavian's tone grew hard, 'the _Graceus _arrived, tainting our soil with their presence.'

I felt whispers break out as the eyes of five hundred people turned towards us; judging us, hating us. I gulped and shot a glance to everyone around me. We couldn't react; no matter how much we were provoked. It would undo all the work Jason and Percy had done.

'They question our ways,' Octavian continued, obviously enjoying our discomfort, 'they question our authority, they question our beliefs. They laugh at us—as though _they _are superior to _us. _How can anyone think to match Rome's might?'

People were nodding assent and suddenly, I was afraid. Suddenly all of Jason's precautions about Octavian made sense. The Augur had the crowd in his grasp and when I looked over to the holy trio—Reyna, Percy and Jason, they all looked helpless. Even a leader cannot stop the people from rising if that is their wish.

'And our beloved Praetors stand and welcome them with open arms.' Octavian turned his attention –and therefore the crowd's attention– to Reyna and Percy who were standing near each other. 'They assure us that the Graceus do not intend to harm—they do not intend to destroy, that they come _peacefully._'

The Augur stopped, his fists curled for all to see. 'They lie. They do not come in peace.'

The legionaries stirred restlessly, hands moving almost automatically towards their weapons. I wanted to shout, to point out to them that up till now we had been nothing but cooperative; I mean even the _Senate _approved of us for crying out loud! Why the sudden change of heart?

'Instead they want to bring war to our doorstep.' Octavian whispered, stepping close to the microphone so that everyone could hear him, 'and they want to take us to the forbidden lands—to Mount Olympus.'

A hiss of disgust rippled through the crowd. Through the gap I saw Jason and Percy whispering urgently to Reyna, trying no doubt to formulate some sort of plan but too was too late. The spark had been ignited, all it needed was fuel.

'And it was plagued by these lies that I left Camp Jupiter. I needed to think—to remember my duty to this Camp. I am its Augur. I must be strong at will to lead this Camp towards a better future!'

Octavian was on fire, I had to admit. This guy made Drew look like a two-bit circus act. For a moment, I considered employing charmspeak and challenging Octavian. However; the idea didn't seem like a good one. And besides, I couldn't use it effectively on five hundred people at one go.

'What a load of crock.' Travis whispered again.

'_Shut up, _Stoll!' Katie hissed, 'are you trying to get us killed?'

'No.' Travis retorted, 'if I was trying to get us killed I'd tell them the light bulb joke—oh, look, the mad man is talking again.'

'And so I appealed to the gods,' Octavian said, holding his arms aloft, 'I pleaded with them for advice and direction, and _finally, _they answered.'

He stopped, daring someone to speak out of turn. No one tried; even I was spellbound. Jason's jaw was set and from the way he'd moved away from Reyna and Percy, I could tell that their plan had fallen apart. _Oh brilliant, _I thought miserably, _I'm going to die miles from home at the hands of a kid who rips apart stuff toys. _

'The gods, answered.' Octavian repeated, 'and they told me one thing. They told me,' his voice had risen to a shout now, 'that I am the last member of The Prophecy of Seven.'

Silence.

Complete and utter silence.

Even Travis didn't have it in him to say something annoying.

'And so the gods have spoken, my friends,' Octavian continued, not letting go of the iron grip he had his people in, '_I _shall journey with the Graceus, _I_ shall cross the vast and unforgivable ocean and _I _shall secure our future.'

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jason attempting to struggle out of Reyna's grip. His sword was out and the look on his face was positively murderous. I had no doubt that if Reyna let him go, Jason would kick Octavian off stage.

'I shall be Rome's savior.' Octavian bent his head in humility, 'I accept this burden for the good of my people. Ave!'

He held his hand up, and the knife flashed silver in the light. But what happened next ruined everything—literally. The dark sky suddenly lightened and a streak of pure light –or lightning as I realized later– arced down and hit the Eagle, sending out spirals in every different direction.

The sound wave came a second later and it was like an artillery shell had hit the Coliseum. The lightning along with the noise sent every demigod diving for their weapon, convinced that Camp was being attacked. Octavian himself was blown off the stage and into the hands of the people he so dearly loved—us.

'Greeks!' he screamed, his eyes wild as they focused on me, 'what sorcery is this?'

'Hey man,' Travis said far too conversationally for someone who was in the middle of a war zone, 'why don't you go fix a light bulb?'

And with that he kicked Octavian full in the face, breaking the Augur's nose. There was no time for celebration, Romans were already trying to hedge us in and they far outnumbered us—we didn't have a chance.

'Wait; stop! STOP!'

Instinctively I ducked as the high keening noise rolled out of the speakers, static soon taking its place. I glanced up and saw Jason attempting to establish some kind of order but no one was listening. The Eagle was still spewing voltage and several of the arcs had found the banners and set them on fire.

It was chaos. Nobody knew what was going on and what was worse, everyone assumed that they _knew _what was going on. Will was already notching arrows and Jake was swinging his hammer. The lightning had thankfully stopped but it would only be a matter of time before the Romans regained their equilibrium. Percy was too far away to make an appearance and stop the madness and Jason was proving to be highly ineffective.

And then, I knew what to do.

I kicked a legionary out of my way, deflecting his short sword off the hilt of my dagger and moved forward, climbing over shields and helmets as I attempted to get to the stage. Someone grabbed my arm and I nearly hit them till I realized it was Jason's friend Dakota. With a mighty push, he lifted me clear of the throng of people and launched me into the air.

I only just remembered to fall and roll as the wooden platform rushed up to meet me. My shoulder took most of the beating but I ignored the pain and stumbled forward. Jason was still on stage and he helped me up, shoving the microphone into my hands as soon as he got the static to stop.

I gathered my courage and thought of Camp Half-Blood; the scent of the strawberries, and the warm richness of the woods; the strong ocean breeze of Long Island Sound and the oppressive heat of the forge; the ring of metal as people practiced in the arena and the merry melodies of the campfire sing-along.

I felt a physical ache in my body. I hadn't been in Camp for two days and I already missed it. I _did not _want to die in some militaristic state where the kids tried to kill you just because you were different.

'Stop this carnage.' I spoke, layering my voice with all the charmspeak I could find inside me.

My words flowed around the Coliseum, circling it once, twice, thrice. It was like a wave, a deep, beautiful, colorful wave. It crashed around everyone and seemed to hijack their senses. One by one, the weapons dropped and simultaneously everyone turned to me, their eyes blinking slowly under my spell.

It was honestly a little scary. I mean, yeah, I had a zombie army at my disposal but the thought that one these guys would be out for blood –my blood– once they fought off the enchantment, pretty much ruined any good feelings I had about my abilities.

Octavain's face popped up out of the sea of people, as though he'd read my thoughts and he pointed a shaking finger straight at me. 'Release us, witch!'

I grinned; his blood splattered face was rather amusing.

Unfortunately his words had some sort of effect on the charmspoken crowd because one by one they began to stir, fighting off the binding chains of my words. The Romans began moving, murmuring as they wondered what had happened while the Greeks gave me tiresome smiles as they came out of it. They'd been subjected to charmspeak too many times for it to be humiliating anymore.

Octavian, however, wasn't done. 'You! How dare you subject us to your whims?!'

I opened my mouth to answer but somebody stepped up next to me and took the microphone out of my hands.

'She did so on my orders.' Reyna said coolly, leaving me gaping internally. _Reyna _waslending legality to my unauthorized use of force on her precious soldiers? What had the world come to?

Octavian looked stumped as well, 'what? But—you…!'

'Yes me,' Reyna cut across the augur's sputtering, 'now if everyone could calm down—this attack was not staged by the Greeks.'

'How do you know?' Octavian demanded, his words coagulating together because of the mess on his face.

'Because—' Reyna stopped, her face turning absolutely white as she took in something. I frowned, wondering what the problem was and glanced around, half expecting to see Will or Katie being held at sword-point.

Instead all I noticed were hostile Romans and charred banners—

_Hold on, _a thought trickled into my head, _that's a very particular shape for a burnt bit of cloth to take. _

Because flaming at us from every banner, was an unmistakable shape of an animal—or should I say, bird? Lit torches were stationed directly behind the hollow eyes, making whatever was left of the banner glow eerily. Any earlier standard or face the banners might have borne had been burned off completely, leaving only that single shape behind.

I swiveled on my feet and found Annabeth, looking up in shock as from behind her –and across the Coliseum– giant smoldering owls stared down at us.

* * *

><p>We were back at the <em>Principia, <em>which despite its seriously cool interior decoration was really starting to piss me off. I mean, what, we'd practically lived in the room for the past couple of days. The only difference this time was that there were _way _more people in the room.

It was the usual eight of us, minus Percy, Jason and Annabeth, plus all the other Centurions from the other Cohorts—except for Octavian because he had to get his nose fixed. Adding to the Centurions were at least ten other Greek campers (plus the oddball Liam) who were also demanding to know what had just happened. It was all very confusing and noisy and Reyna had a hard time maintaining discipline.

'For the last time; shut up all of you!' She yelled, slamming her fist down to get attention. Her creepy metallic dogs were growling as well, which only added to the gentle atmosphere.

The talk died down immediately.

'Thank you.' Reyna took a deep breath and quickly got herself under control. 'Now, let's deal with the most important thing first: Camp has not been attacked.'

'How do you know?' One of the Centurions asked quickly. He was short but stocky and his black hair seemed like it had machine oil all over it.

_Definitely a son of Heph—Vulcan, _I decided.

'Because no one specific was targeted, Larry.' Reyna sighed. Her eyes were a little bloodshot and her shoulders were drooping. For a second, I actually felt sorry for her: how tough it must be to manage a Camp where everyone questioned your authority at every opportunity that presented itself.

'Could've fooled me.' Someone from the Roman crowd muttered and several dirty glances were shot at me and the rest of the Greek contingent.

'The Greeks were just as disadvantaged as us, Hank.' Reyna replied, sighing loudly.

'Can you guys not talk as if we aren't here?' Travis complained, earning another dirty look from some of the Romans. He, however, continued on regardless, 'I mean seriously; after trying to kill us, we deserve a little respect.'

'Excuse me? You're the ones who tried to kill _us._' Larry said incredulously, to loud shouts of approval from the other Centurions.

'How?' Leo demanded, moving so he stood shoulder to shoulder with Travis.

'You're saying that lightning show wasn't your doing?' A Centurion –I had no idea what his name was– asked disbelievingly.

'Last I checked that Eagle doesn't belong to us.' Leo pointed out, rather smartly.

'So what?' Hank objected, 'you could have tampered with it!'

Leo snorted, 'please, have you seen the craftsmanship? I wouldn't even come near such a hideous thing.'

The Stolls broke into loud laughter even as Leo grinned. I, however, felt like face-palming. _Way to fan the flames, Valdez, _I thought as the Romans' frowns grew uglier than ever.

'Listen Graceus,' Larry spat, his face twisting with hatred, 'you better watch your mouth.'

'Or what?' Leo challenged him laughingly, 'you'll recite Latin poetry at me?'

'Why, you little—' Larry's eyes looked like they would fall out of his head as he tried to reach across and strangle Leo. The other Greeks appeared around Leo, protecting him and I saw weapons being drawn again.

'Stop it! I am ordering you to stop this nonsense!' Reyna was banging on the table again but everyone was ignoring her. I drew a deep breath, preparing myself to charmspeak them again when the door slammed open and Jason appeared on the scene.

'What the hell is _wrong_ with you people?' He bellowed, shoving his way in and pulling people apart. He looked positively furious and there was a curious crackle in the air as he stepped in.

'D'you really want to fight each other? Do you?' He paused and glared around at everyone. 'Fine; whoever thinks they have it in them are free to have a go against me.' He announced, pulling out his sword and laying it on the table in an age-old gesture of "come-at-me-bro" as Leo would call it.

'No, I'm serious.' Jason continued, 'anyone—Greek or Roman who's aching for a fight is more than welcome to try me.'

Very wisely, no one said a word. A couple of the Romans shifted, looking away while the Greeks continued to appraise Jason as though he was a rather amusing phenomenon.

'Nobody?' Jason pulled off the mock-surprised look really well, 'really? And I thought you guys really wanted to beat each other up. How odd.'

It was perfect, really. The sarcasm, the authority, the sheer _presence _of it all was perfect. At that moment Jason was near invincible. His stare was so piercing that no one bothered to meet his gaze and when he sheathed his sword there were more than just a couple of relaxed shoulders.

'Good, now, let's make a few ground rules. One: Camp is safe, so stop looking for excuses to fight.' Jason said pointedly to the pack of Centurions, 'two: neither the Greeks nor the Romans are responsible for the attack—in fact, it is my strong belief that there _wasn't _an attack.'

'I'm sorry; what would you like to call it then?' Travis looked genuinely baffled. 'Formal hostilities?'

'No.' The full weight of Jason's stare settled on Travis and he backed away ever so slightly, 'I believe it was a message.'

There was a bit of a silence as the full implications of his words settled on everyone.

'Three,' Jason went on, 'the first person to attack a Greek, no matter what the provocation, will be exiled from Camp.'

There was a host of protests at that. Even I felt a little taken aback at the harshness of the punishment. 'Whose authority does that stand on?' Hank wanted to know.

'Lupa's.' Jason said simply and held up his palm upon which sat a red bruise, almost as though some animal had bitten him. The entire Roman contingent withdrew in awe at the sight of it. Even Reyna's eyes widened in admiration.

'Of course, I do ask the Greeks to not provoke their counterparts.' Jason's level stare found Travis and Connor.

'Hey—no problem man,' Travis said effusively, 'er, does a joke count as provocation?'

Jason ignored him. 'Four: those Romans chosen to join _The Argo II _on its journey tomorrow, will leave immediately and gather their supplies. They are expected to rise early tomorrow.'

'What if they changed their minds about joining the crew?' A voice called out quietly. I craned my neck and deduced that the voice belonged to the blond haired man right at the back. I recognized him from the Senate meeting: Something Webber.

'Then, speak now.' Jason said immediately and without emotion, 'there are thirty Romans willing to take your place. If you feel that you do not possess the courage to fight the evil that awaits us, by all means, feel free to bow out.'

He'd played it beautifully. Jason had very smartly identified the one colossal weakness each Roman seemed to posses: their unwillingness to appear weak and had targeted it brilliantly. There were a couple of murmurs but no one objected and one by one they began heading for the door.

Once the numbers had reduced Jason continued, 'Five: those Romans with security concerns for Camp, be rest assured that it is safe. As an added measure, Lupa and her wolves have agreed to patrol the streets. You may also leave.'

The remaining Centurions –there weren't that many; only four except for Frank– glanced at each other but evidently came to a silent agreement to not mess with Jason because they all rose to their feet and left without a single protest.

Only the Greeks were left now, except for Frank, Hazel and Reyna and they all waited expectantly for Jason's orders.

'I don't think you guys are at any danger,' Jason said once the door had closed behind the last Centurion, 'but if you'd just stay on the ship tonight and not wander about, it would make our lives a lot easier.'

'You mean, we're not going to get an explanation?' Katie protested.

Jason hesitated and glanced at the door again. 'Right now, we aren't sure of what happened. But once we have something concrete, we'll let you know.'

It was a clear dismissal and the others were smart enough to recognize it. Calling out their "goodnights" they stretched and headed outside, already beginning to laugh and joke amongst themselves; the horror of the last hour all but forgotten.

I leaned back and suddenly realized that Liam hadn't moved from his position. If Jason noticed, he didn't say anything and instead chose to drop into a chair, finally letting his exhaustion show.

'Are you okay?' Reyna and I both asked together and then immediately scowled at each other.

'Fine.' Jason said cracking a grin as he held out his palm so that the light caught the red bruise.

'You're an idiot, you know?' Reyna said softly, sitting down next to him and lifting his hand so that she could examine the damaged skin carefully. Jealousy burned through me and I forced myself to look away.

'What _did _you do?' Leo asked with interest moving forward to take a better look.

Indecision crossed Jason's face at the question and I suddenly wondered if he'd continue with freezing out his best friend. But then, Jason's shoulders relaxed and he met Leo's stare with a nonchalant smile so I knew despite his earlier misgivings, he'd decided to forgive Leo.

'I decided to invoke the Wolf Law.' Jason said tiredly.

'What is that—a TV show?' Leo asked, puzzled.

I suppressed a giggle which was smart of me because both Reyna and Frank had horrified looks on their faces, clearly convinced that Leo had committed the hugest sacrilege of all.

'No.' Jason thankfully looked amused, 'it's basically when you put your life in Lupa's hands in return for her authority.'

'You—did—_what_?' I was too shocked to even move.

'Relax Piper; it isn't as bad as it sounds.' Jason assured me, moving his hand to cover mine which it made it slightly awkward because Reyna still had possession of his other one.

'What d'you mean by "put your life in her hands?" How does that work?' Even Leo looked slightly nauseous.

'Basically you have to convince Lupa that her authority is needed for a cause that you believe in enough—enough to die for.' Reyna answered, her tone back to its usual brisk pace. 'And if she believes you, she gives you a symbol, usually a prominent bite.'

'And if she doesn't believe you?' Leo looked almost too afraid to ask, which meant that he and I were sharing the same sentiments.

'Then she kills you.' Liam supplied suddenly, making us all jump. He had his feet up on the table, which I was pretty sure wasn't allowed, and he was studiously examining his nails.

Leo didn't seem to know what to say. 'Ah; that's merciful.'

'Usually it's used as a way to question the current leadership, if a legionary thinks the Praetors aren't doing a good job.' Reyna said and then turned her attention to Jason, 'I haven't seen it used so innovatively of course.'

Jason looked down, 'I had to do something. They were all at each others' throats.'

'Speaking of which,' I cleared my throat, annoyed by their easy camaraderie, 'what exactly happened out there?'

'I want to wait—' Jason started but then changed tack as the door opened, 'but since they're here, we can start.'

The "they" turned out to be Percy and Annabeth. They entered the room together, each looking as though they could win the prize for chronic exhaustion. After a few seconds of observation though, I decided that Annabeth was slightly worse off. Even as I watched she pulled out a small flask and took a quick swig of it.

'Antidote.' She said to my unasked question.

'The streets are silent,' Percy said, directing his comment to Jason as he fell into the nearest chair, 'you obviously got them to listen to you.'

'Invoking the Wolf Law is a very serious thing.' Reyna said in defense of Jason. 'The last time someone did it was way back in the 80's; when Michael Varus invoked it to challenge the then Augur's decision to not allow him to go north.'

'Clearly it doesn't end too well for the person involved.' Percy said lightly. I bit my lip in confusion; I had no idea who Michael Varus was or why he wanted to go north but suddenly Jason's idea of invoking the law didn't seem like a good one at all.

'Anyway,' Jason said with a quick glance at me as though he was reading my thoughts, 'let's talk about tonight. What the hell happened out there?'

Percy blew his cheeks out, 'from where I was standing it looked as though the Eagle went berserk and attempted to fry all of us.'

Annabeth tapped her finger on the table, 'no. It didn't target any individual.'

'Except for Octavian.' Frank interjected immediately, 'did you notice, it was as soon as he finished proclaiming himself as Rome's hero that the lightning struck.'

'Fair enough,' Annabeth allowed, 'but Octavian didn't get hurt.'

'Well,' I said, trying very hard to not sound cheerful, 'he got his nose broken.'

'Which is not a good thing.' Reyna said nastily, her black eyes narrowing at me. 'Injuring a high ranking officer—particularly the Augur was an unnecessary act of aggression.'

'Oh please,' Leo rolled his eyes, 'did you hear the guy? He acted as though we were Satan's kids in flesh.'

'The point to focus on,' Jason said loudly, drowning out Reyna's response, 'is that a totally random burst of lightning happened for a reason. What's the reason? What are we missing?'

Only silence answered his words. Jason looked around at all of us and finally decided to settle on Liam who so far, hadn't shown any interest in the conversation—as usual.

'You have any thoughts on this?'

Liam looked surprised at being addressed, 'me? Why would I have any thoughts?'

'Well you're obviously sitting here for _something,_' Jason pointed out, 'and I'm pretty sure it's not because you like our company.'

A smirk appeared on Liam's lips.

'Not bad Grace,' He conceded, 'someday you might even get your IQ up to a hundred.'

Aside from the tightening of his fists, Jason didn't react to the comment at all. Liam stretched a little, taking his time to put his thoughts in order (or maybe he was just getting a kick out of making us wait) before he spoke.

'You guys are looking at it the wrong way. The lightning isn't the big deal.'

'I'm sorry—the lightning nearly killed us all, how stupid of us to actually think it meant something.' Jason muttered, an edge to his tone.

'The lightning had only one purpose,' Liam said coolly, 'and that wasn't to injure anyone. The only noteworthy thing it did, aside from destroying the stage was—'

'—to light the banners on fire.' Annabeth finished. I looked up and noticed that her eyes were swirling with a million thoughts.

Liam nodded in approval, 'exactly. So the thing to focus on is not the means but the end. And the end is the burning owl. What does _that _mean?'

'I think,' I said after a moment, 'we can all agree that the owl has something to do with Annabeth. It's Athena's symbol, right?'

Was it my imagination or did Percy, Hazel and Frank just exchange really quick glances?

'That's a presumption,' Annabeth said, 'even if it is related to Athena is some way –and I'm not saying it _has _to be– it could be for any other child of hers. Malcolm, for example.'

'Malcolm isn't here.' Percy said softly, 'you're the only child of Athena in Rome right now.'

Annabeth blinked but still looked unsure. My eyes flitted over the group and I noticed straightaway that Liam was watching Annabeth intently as though he was waiting for something to happen.

'What if it's not Athena?' Reyna said suddenly, 'an owl is the symbol for Minerva as well.'

'True.' Annabeth nodded, 'and you have what—twenty kids of hers right here at Camp Jupiter, right? Maybe the owl has something to do with them.'

'Umm, somehow I don't think that's it.' Frank muttered, drawing surprised glances from all of us. He fidgeted under the stares and looked as though he regretted speaking in the first place.

'Why?' Leo asked, suspiciously, 'what do you know?'

'I—I don't…' Frank trailed off and looked at Percy. Naturally, we all shifted our scrutiny as well.

'Percy,' Annabeth said suddenly, 'what aren't you telling us?'

Percy looked at Frank and Hazel and seemed to come to a silent agreement with them. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and rolled his shoulders, preparing for what he had to say.

'You guys know who Ella is right?' He began, to immediate protests.

'I don't!' Leo called, waving his hand. 'I have no idea who Ella is.'

'She's a harpy.' Frank snapped, obviously still irritated with Leo from the argument they'd had on the _Principia's _steps the previous day.

'A very smart harpy.' Hazel added, considerately.

'I do not understand the significance of a harpy—however smart she may be, to your story.' Leo deadpanned much to mine –and Jason's, by the look of it– amusement.

'Seriously,' I added, 'and if she's so important, how come we haven't met her?'

Percy didn't seem to find my remark very humorous. In fact, he turned pale as though the thought of people meeting Ella would be his own personal nightmare. Frank and Hazel had similar expressions.

'Look,' Percy said hurriedly, 'you can't mention Ella to anyone.'

'Why—?' Leo began but Hazel cut him off firmly.

'Because she's memorized pieces of the Sibylline Books.'

The atmosphere of the room changed immediately. Jason's smile vanished and an expression of acute disbelief crossed Reyna's face. Even Annabeth's eyes widened—which meant she'd also understood the significance of Hazel's words. Out of all of them, only Liam's expression remained the same. He continued to watch Annabeth.

'Okay—time out.' Leo said, a tad nervously, 'what are the Siby-whatever-books?'

'They're a collection of prophecies,' Jason said slowly, 'that are said to contain the entire history and future of the Roman Empire.'

'Future?' I repeated, 'like if you knew the prophecies, you knew the future?'

Jason's silence was answer enough.

'What happened to them?' Leo asked.

'They were destroyed—or lost—or misplaced,' Reyna answered, 'no one knows for sure. But Octavian's been after them forever.'

'So then how did Ella memorize pieces of it?' I questioned, noting a serious flaw in the Harpy's prowess if the books didn't exist anymore.

'We don't know,' Percy finally rejoined the conversation, 'but we're pretty sure she's read them. And the thing is, if someone were to, I dunno, capture her, she could be a lot of use to them.'

'Woah.' Leo muttered, 'that _is _one smart harpy.'

'Wait, so Ella recited something to you? Something about the future?' I tried fitting the pieces of Percy's hints together, keeping in mind what had happened just an hour ago.

'Not the future,' Percy shook his head, 'but a prophecy—an incomplete one, we think.'

'Why incomplete?' Leo raised an eyebrow.

'Because the books were burned or lost or whatever.' Liam reminded him, his eyes flitting only for a moment away from Annabeth. Honestly, I was beginning to find his study of her a little weird.

'Okay—so what's the prophecy?' Leo prompted.

Percy took a deep breath and recited, '_Wisdom's daughter walks alone. The Mark of Athena burns through Rome._' He stopped and stared at us expectantly.

'Wait that's it?' Leo looked a little let down, 'that's not incomplete, that's, like, barely there!'

'Ella didn't say anything else?' Annabeth asked, leaning forward, as though proximity to Percy would help increase the amount of information he had.

Percy shook his head, 'no. I tried to make her repeat it but she's um, kinda…' He trailed off looking for a word which Frank helpfully supplied.

'Erratic. She jumps topics.'

'"The Mark of Athena burns through Rome."' I repeated, watching Annabeth carefully, 'that's what happened tonight. The owl, which is a symbol of Athena's, a synonym for "mark," burned through Rome.'

Annabeth didn't look convinced, 'It didn't burn "through Rome," it burned through like twenty banners.'

I shrugged, 'poetic license.'

Annabeth looked like she wanted to argue but suddenly Jason sat forward, his eyes bright with excitement. 'I was right. It _is _a message.'

We all must have looked equally baffled because he began to explain. 'Don't you see? Think about what Frank said: the lightning struck as soon as Octavian pronounced himself as the Seventh member of the Prophecy.'

Annabeth tried to interrupt, 'yes, but—'

Jason didn't let her finish, 'the gods are sending us a message. Octavian _isn't _the seventh member—Annabeth is.'

There was very long silence after those words. Jason looked completely sure of himself, while Leo, Reyna and Annabeth looked skeptical. Frank and Hazel seemed to hover in between but Percy looked like his worst fears had just been confirmed.

'Jason,' Annabeth said eventually, 'that's ridiculous. How can I be the seventh member if I'm supposed to walk alone somewhere? The prophecies contradict each other.'

'And,' Percy added, a tad lamely, 'Athena _does_ have other daughters.'

'Unless, you're supposed to _metaphorically _walk alone while hanging with us.' Leo offered, much to Percy's annoyance.

'What?' Leo asked, once he caught sight of Percy's expression, 'would you rather her walking off alone without any of us to help?'

Percy looked like he wanted to strangle Leo.

'I think we're presuming far too much.' Annabeth said at last, 'and it's not like I wasn't planning on coming anyway,' she added, shooting Percy a steady glance, 'so me being the seventh member or not is a bit of a moot point.'

'No it isn't.' Jason countered, 'if you're the seventh member, then Octavian isn't.'

'Already plotting against me, are you Jason?' Called an all too familiar voice from the doorway, making us all jump. Octavian stood on the threshold, a smirk evident on his face, despite the heavy bandages around his nose.

He shuffled forward, his gait reminding me of a crazy drunk I'd once unfortunately encountered. I watched the Augur, suddenly scared of how much he'd heard. Especially about Ella. Percy had made it clear that Ella's knowledge could be easily abused and I had no doubt that given the chance, Octavian would most certainly avail the offer.

'Not plotting,' Jason said easily, though I could see tension radiating from his shoulders, 'just reasoning.'

Octavian didn't look even close to believing that. 'I would think, that as a fellow Roman, you would stand with me instead of against me. Clearly I was wrong Jason.'

'Yes, you were wrong,' Percy said swiftly, 'you were wrong about a lot of things—particularly about being a member of the Prophecy.'

_Oh, good one, _I thought to myself. Clearly Percy knew how to handle Octavian better than Jason did. Jason seemed like he was thinking over going for his sword to settle the argument.

Octavian however didn't look fazed. 'The gods spoke to _me_ Jackson.'

'You _claim_ the gods spoke to you,' Percy countered, 'and frankly, I don't believe your claims.'

Octavian's posture didn't change but something in his eyes made him look more than just slightly mad. He looked positively dangerous. 'Are you saying that you won't _allow _me on the quest?'

'We're saying,' Jason pitched in, 'that we don't want you to come. And we don't think you're the seventh member. So sorry.'

'If _I _am not the seventh member,' Octavian said silkily, every vowel vibrating with suppressed emotion, 'then who is?'

'I am.' Annabeth said evenly, drawing surprised looks from all of us. Octavian whipped around, fast as a rattle snake and I couldn't help but draw my knife.

'You?' Octavian's tone was genuinely incredulous, 'what claim do you have to the position?'

'The gods spoke to me.' Annabeth replied, her face emotionless. Leo however had to dive under the table to stop himself from breaking into loud guffaws and even I had to fight to keep the grin off my face.

'Yeah,' Annabeth continued blandly when Octavian didn't say anything, 'in fact, they just sent me the memo.'

She was pushing it, and I mean _really _pushing it. Leo hadn't resurfaced and even Reyna, a person who was normally formality personified was deliberately looking at the wall. Percy was smiling at the table but pretending to rub his chin in a thoughtful manner.

'You _dare _mock me.' Octavian was shaking with rage but Annabeth didn't even flinch. Liam, who was sitting next to her moved ever so slightly as though he was prepared to draw a weapon and Percy's pen appeared on the table.

'Watch it, Octavian.' Jason said opening his palm to show the bite he'd endured, 'I can have you exiled.'

Octavian swallowed and turned away, his features falling back into practiced disdain. I wasn't fooled though and I knew that at that moment, if it hadn't been for Jason, the Augur might have actually done something drastic.

'Very well, Jason.' Octavian said, his lip curling in disgust, 'so be it. This is my last offer of friendship—if you choose these _Graceus _over me… well, I can only pray that Jupiter will forgive his only son.'

A shadow passed over Jason's face, 'Get. Out.'

The Augur didn't wait; he rose to his feet and left without another word, slamming the door shut behind him. There was silence for a few moments and I took a deep breath, slightly shaken by what had just transpired.

I turned to Annabeth, 'why'd you say you were the seventh member? What changed your mind?'

'Nothing.' She said quietly, 'I _don't_ think I'm the seventh member. But I had to say it; it was a purely political move to keep him out—'

'–thank the gods for that–' Jason said hoarsely.

'—a move, I think I will soon regret.' Annabeth finished.


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: Woah. I've been thinking about this moment for like ever, so cool to be finally here. Just btw, not the final chapter. ****Also, did the last chapter come out in complete bold, 'cause if it did, it wasn't my fault. Fanfiction screwed the format up. I hope this one comes out okay.**

* * *

><p><strong>39) One Does Not Simply Recover From This.<strong>

**Annabeth-I**

The night was silent except for the occasional hoot of a nearby owl. The breeze stirred my shirt a little but otherwise the air was still, making me feel a little muggy. I checked my watch and heaved a sigh, searching around for the antidote which I was supposed to take.

'Does it taste that bad?'

I grimaced at Percy's question. 'Tastes like sawdust. And shellfish. I've never liked shellfish.'

Percy continued to watch me, eerily silent as I gulped down the last few drops. He'd been fairly quiet throughout the day and it was beginning to scare me a little.

'You okay?'

He seemed startled by the question. 'Shouldn't I be asking you that?'

I managed to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Honestly; I got where his paranoia was coming from—given that he'd disappeared on me for six months and then had the audacity to nearly die in front of me but this was getting out of hand. The last time somebody had tried so hard to care about my welfare had been my stepmom and that hadn't exactly ended well.

'You have to stop. Seriously, I might stab you if you ask me that again.'

He didn't grin (which kinda ruined my plan) and instead gave me annoyed look.

'Cut me some slack; you nearly died.'

'So did you.' I pointed out and had the satisfaction of seeing him grit his teeth in frustration.

'That's different.'

This time I did roll my eyes. You'd think by now he should've learned to put some more effort into his arguments with me. 'Explain to me how it's different.'

Percy waved my statement away. 'You can handle me dying—I can't do the same.'

I was too surprised to respond wittily. Very rarely did Percy actually manage something insightful but when he did he really shook me up. I replayed his words in my head trying to figure how and why (particularly why) he could say such a thing.

'Okay, what do you mean by that?'

He shrugged as though the meaning was incredibly obvious. 'You know: we're different people.'

'Yes; that clears things right up.'

He ignored my sarcasm and glanced up at the sky. We were on _The Argo II _and I was sitting on the railing, my legs dangling inwards. Percy stood opposite, resting one of his hands just next to me. The collar of his shirt was damp with sweat.

'It's just that...' He paused, searching for the right words, 'you handle death better than I do. It's part of your... character. You know what I mean.'

'Part of my character?' I repeated, incredulously. Who did he think I was? Some sort of stoic war veteran who just shrugged their shoulders and said, "eh" when people died? Okay, fine, maybe I'd learned early in life to compartmentalize but that didn't mean I'd be all sunshine and rainbows if Percy copped it.

'And no,' I added, 'I don't know what you mean.'

'You seem offended.' Percy noticed.

'I _am _offended.' I shot back.

He shrugged, clearly not bothered by my annoyance and reached for my hand rather absentmindedly. I let him take it, not because I was feeling particularly romantic (especially since he'd just called me the equivalent of a heartless bitch) but because I understood that he was going to need constant reassurance that I was alive and well.

_Well, _I thought to myself self-righteously, _obviously compassion is a part of my character too. Too bad you didn't notice that._

'You should sleep.' Percy suggested after the silence had stretched for a couple of minutes. I glanced at him and noted the dark shadows under his eyes. That and the fact that he kept rolling his shoulders as if to get rid of a sharp, concentrated pain told me that he was suffering from chronic fatigue.

Which made sense, because between the quest (where we got five hours sleep in total) and the near death experience (both his and mine) and the planning for the quest to Rome, he hadn't got more than fifteen hours of sleep in three days.

'I'm not tired;' I said truthfully, 'all I've done today is laid in bed. You, on the other hand look like you're gonna fall over any second.'

The fact that he didn't argue only made my case.

Percy heaved a huge sigh, considering it then his grip around my hand tightened—almost as though he was frightened I was going to drop dead again. _That _feeling I understood totally.

'Hey,' I said gently, 'you should sleep. Trust me, I'm not going anywhere.'

He snorted, 'yeah; you told me to trust that you were fine. Look how well that turned out.'

'I think it turned out pretty well,' I pointed out reasonably, 'seeing that I'm alive and everything.'

His eyes, when they flitted back to me, were considerably bleaker and when he lifted out interlinked hands up as though he still couldn't believe I was real, I swear I saw something very close to acute desperation cross his face just for a moment.

'You have _no _idea,' he started, his tone trembling with suppressed with—what? Rage? Fear? Despair? I couldn't quite tell and I didn't have a lot more words to analyze because he decided to not complete whatever he was about to say and instead chose to fall silent.

'Anyway,' He said after a few moments, 'I'm not going to listen to your "trust me—I'm fine" routine anymore.'

'Okay.' I said cautiously, utterly unfamiliar with the ground I was treading on. 'But that still doesn't change the fact that you need your rest. We leave in six hours.'

Frustration (this time I identified the emotion correctly!) bloomed apparent in his eyes. 'Will you stop it?'

'Stop what?' I asked, genuinely curious.

'_This._' He hissed and wrenched his hand from mine as he took a couple of steps away, breathing heavily. 'You're acting as though you had a flesh wound, Annabeth, you nearly _died_ and I'm sorry but like I said, I don't deal very well with death so stop making me... do things!'

'Do things?' I repeated, half wanting to laugh because of his choice of words, and half wanting to comfort him and tell him that no matter what happened to me, it would take a lot more than death to take him away from me again.

'Yeah,' Percy struggled for words, 'this _concern _that you feel for me—I don't want it.'

'Fine.' I said, 'I won't worry about your lack of sleep. Fall of the ship tomorrow; see if I care.'

He looked, I noticed, very close to going for his Riptide. It was actually rather endearing because let's face it; he could never actually beat me in battle.

'You're doing this purposely aren't you?' Percy said, annoyance evident in every syllable, 'baiting me. This is fun for you isn't it?'

'No.' I answered, reaching for him with both my hands wide open indicating that I came in peace, 'I just think you need to go to bed. That's it.'

He regarded me suspiciously for a second as though my words had hidden meanings. I waited, sure that he was going to start arguing again but then he smiled—deviously.

'Okay.' He shrugged, 'I'll go to bed. Right here in fact.'

'Here?' I repeated doubtfully, 'I dunno Seaweed Brain; the bugs won't make your night comfortable.'

'Not here literally,' He took a step closer and gave me a winning smile, 'I'm assuming you have a cabin of your own on this ship?'

It look a little less than a second to see what he was attempting to achieve and under the suggestive smile he was so desperately attempting to hold in place I saw very clearly what he was trying to hide: fear.

Genuine, blood-curdling fear. I understood it better than anyone. That all-consuming need to absolutely know without a doubt that nothing bad was going to happen to a person you loved: I'd suffered under it for months and yes, if I was honest with myself, I could feel it bubbling inside me, again.

But it wasn't healthy. I'd only just managed to keep it at bay by distracting myself with building _The Argo II_. If I let it in now, it wouldn't stop. And if I let it get to Percy, I'd be crippling him in the long run. He was one of the seven demigods necessary to defeat Gaia so it was my job to make sure he learnt to focus on what was important—even if it meant carrying on after I died.

I had no illusions about the war we were heading off to. The odds were stacked hugely against us. People would die, and if they were lucky enough they wouldn't be pulled back by Gaia to join her side. It was statistical really and if I was part of that then I couldn't do anything about it.

Percy would though. He'd fight tooth and nail to keep me alive and probably ruin any chances of winning the war. Personal loyalty might be his fatal flaw but I wasn't going to let him succumb to it when the fate of the world rested on his shoulders.

He mistook my silence for offense and said very hurriedly, 'I didn't mean it that way. Honestly! I'll be perfectly happy on the floor as well—'

'No.' I cut him off.

'Annabeth—' He tried but I wasn't having any of it.

'You are going to get off this ship, walk to your barracks and go to bed there.'

Percy's eyes narrowed, 'just so you know, I am Praetor of this camp, so technically, I can sleep wherever the hell I want to.'

'Then as Praetor of this camp, you should opt to spend one last night with your fellow legionaries, considering you'll probably never see them again.' I replied, without missing a beat.

That brought him up short. I waited as he tried to sort through all the arguments he had and all the arguments which could actually prove to be useful. Evidently he had none of the latter because he said dismissively, 'they can survive a night without me.'

'Yes, but you can survive a night without them?' I pressed.

He frowned, 'is this some sort of weird test? Where you make me choose between you and other people and judge me on the time I spend hesitating?'

_Only Percy Jackson could find ways to confuse himself further_, I thought despondently. 'No Percy, this isn't a test. This is me telling you to go to your Roman friends.'

'It's not like I don't want to do that—but I really want to stay here.'

'Well, you can't stay here.' I said quickly. All the argument was wearing me out and if I was honest with myself, I knew if Percy pushed any harder I was going to give in.

'Look, you know you're going to miss this place terribly, so why don't you spend as much as time as you can. I'll be here: tomorrow, day after, the day after that.'

Percy sighed and rolled his shoulders again, thinking it over. I hadn't targeted Camp Jupiter just for the sake of it. I knew he was genuinely attached to the Camp –maybe he even thought it as a second home– because of the way he'd reacted in the Coliseum when Piper had talked about Camp Half-Blood. He didn't really want to say goodbye just yet and I was going to remind him of that.

'You know what I hoped for; all those months that you were gone?' I said, not really wanting to remind myself of the past but finding it necessary in the grander scheme of things. Percy looked puzzled at the sudden topic change.

'I mean, I didn't care if you didn't remember me. I didn't care if you'd found someone else—I didn't _care _if you chose to not give our relationship another chance...' The words were coming quickly and I had to swallow back the lump in my throat.

'All I really hoped for... was that you hadn't changed. That you were still Percy Jackson, the idiot, the loyal friend and above all the hero. The _Greek _hero.'

I don't think Percy had ever stood still for so long.

'Now I realize,' I blinked back the wetness and allowed my heart-rate to settle, 'that I was an idiot. You had to change. It was _necessary _for you to change.'

'But I'm still _me._' He said softly, reaching forward to clasp my hand again.

'Yeah,' I agreed lifting my free hand to wrap around his neck, 'you are still you. But now there are new parts of you and you know what—in some weird way, twisted way, I'm glad you got chucked across the country. Because now you're not just a Greek hero. You're a Roman one as well.'

'Great; so no pressure on me, huh?' He muttered, brushing his lips across my jaw line and working up his way up towards my lips.

'And as a Roman hero,' I insisted, ignoring his repeated attempts to meet my lips, 'you're going to spend one last time with your soldiers. To honour them, to respect them but most of all—to _show_ them that they didn't make a mistake when they elected you as Praetor.'

I felt his stubble graze my skin and made a mental note to remind him to shave as he leaned back and surveyed me, looking rather exasperated. 'You are the most _irritating _person I've ever met... and that's saying a lot.'

I couldn't help but grin and not because I knew I'd won the argument but because for the first time since the Second Great Prophecy had officially begun, I knew without a shadow of doubt that some things between us, no matter what happened, would never really change.

'And now Annabeth Chase,' he murmured in my ear, 'would please shut up so I can kiss you?'

* * *

><p>I froze, my hand automatically moving to slide out my dagger as my senses went on overdrive trying to identify the sound which had just assailed my sounded like an animal –which made sense because Lupa's wolves were patrolling the street– but the noise hadn't come from the ground it had sort of floated down... as though something was perched on a tree.<p>

I pivoted around slowly, regulating my breathing so I didn't tire myself out too quickly. Already I was beginning to regret dropping Percy off at his Barracks. I should've just let the idiot walk the quarter of a mile on his own and retired to my cabin.

A flutter of wings sounded and I was crouching on the ground, spreading my weight evenly on both my legs. The darkness closed in, suffocating, and though the leaves on the tress around me rustled, I couldn't feel any hint of a breeze.

I blinked: once, twice, thrice, keeping my ears strained for whatever that was following me. Nothing happened and I was on the verge of getting up when I saw a slightly darker shade of black flit between the trees.

I didn't hesitate—the dagger was out of my hand before I'd fully processed the threat. It flashed bright as it caught the wide arc of a nearby streetlamp and vanished into the foliage with a soft "woosh."

A second later I heard an outraged cry.

Nervous now, because I didn't have a weapon to defend myself with, I took a careful step forward just as something came shooting out of the bushes, my dagger clutched in its talons. It was a harpy.

Except, instead of the usual yellow feathers, the harpy had bright red ones.

'Daughter of Athena,' she began in a somewhat injured tone, 'Ella has come to help you. Why do you throw sharp knives at Ella?'

'Oh.' I looked at her, a little baffled, 'umm sorry?'

She snorted and dropped the knife at my feet before flitting up to the nearest tree where she began preening her feathers. I picked it up and slid it into my sheath wondering if I should say something. Clearly the harpy –the same Ella Percy had mentioned?– had come looking for me for a reason.

'So,' I said, completely unsure of how I should approach the conversation, 'you... were looking for me?'

Ella looked up from her feathers, 'yes, even if Ella must hurt Percy Jackson.'

'Wait—what? Hurt Percy?' I repeated, as all my misgivings about talking to the harpy vanished.

Ella looked afraid. She glanced around as though she was sure someone would overhear and whispered, 'Percy Jackson is Ella's friend. Ella doesn't want Percy Jackson to die.'

'Percy isn't going to die, Ella—' I started to say but the harpy began trembling all over, accompanying her spasms with loud, terrified squawks . 'Death And All His Friends; Viva La Vida, Coldplay 2008; 2008; the release of _The Dark Knight_; Knight, a person granted an honorary title of Knighthood by a monarch or other political leader...'

And she went on and on, jumping topics often when she was only halfway done. When Frank had defined her as "erratic" I thought she'd be kind of like my father but this was full blown eccentricity. Not knowing what to do, I drew my dagger again, in the hopes that it would stop her rambling.

It worked, at the sight of the dangerous celestial bronze blade she shut up, emitting only little terrified sounds as though she was on the verge of death.

'Okay—Ella,' I started gently but firmly, 'I'm not gonna hurt you okay? I just need to know what you were saying about Percy Jackson.' Very slowly, I placed the dagger on the ground careful to put up my hands again to show I was surrendering.

Ella looked a little calmer but by the way she nervously picked at her feathers, I knew she was still agitated. She glanced around again and then dropped down to a lower branch so that she was less than a foot above my face.

'Percy Jackson is Ella's friend.' She said again in a tremulous voice and fixed me with pleading eyes.

'All right, Percy Jackson is my friend too.' I said soothingly. 'So I need to know what danger he's facing so that I can protect him better.'

That didn't work. She just sat on her branch and clucked around nervously, all the while staring at me expectantly. I blew out my cheeks in frustration and checked my watch. Just after midnight. Brilliant. I would have to wake people up from their much needed sleep to deal with her.

'The Mark of Athena burns in Rome tonight,' Ella whispered suddenly, making me jump.

'Excuse me?' I said, also wanting to add politely that the infamous "Mark of Athena" had only burned through a couple of banners. However there didn't seem any point to it so I didn't mention it.

Ella ignored me, her brown eyes boring into mine rather creepily. 'The Prophecy has begun.'

'What prophecy?' I asked, my confusion mounting by the second.

A few more seconds passed with us playing the "blink and you lose" game until Ella flapped her wings again and began to speak, her voice soft and controlled; every syllable perfectly distinct.

_Wisdom's daughter walks alone,  
>The Mark of Athena burns through Rome.<br>The power of the God's divided in two,  
>Together they be used, their chances be few.<br>Son of Poseidon, killed by his love's hand,  
>To trust a friend will be the decision of another man.<br>The rising of the Earth must be stopped with force,  
>Demigods, mortals, their life will be lost.<em>

And with that she flapped her wings and flew straight passed me jerkily, as though she knew her life was in mortal danger and was fleeing while she could.

'No; wait!' I shouted, stumbling after Ella, 'hold on—I'm not going to hurt you!'

'She does not run from you, child,' a familiar voice called out behind me, stopping me in my tracks, 'she runs from us.'

I turned around to find a tall lean woman, dressed in casual clothes, leaning against a stone bench. While it was too dark to make out, I knew her eyes would be the exact shade of grey as mine.

Next to her, stood a man wearing what looked like a black three piece suit.

My mother and Lord Zeus had come to visit me.

* * *

><p>'M-m-mom?' I don't usually stutter but when your divine parent ignores you for six months during an exceedingly difficult period in your life (a short dream doesn't count), some surprised stuttering is definitely allowed. 'What—what are you doing here?'<p>

Zeus gave a disgruntled snort and sat down on the bench saying, 'make it quick, Athena, we don't have all day.'

I wanted to point out that it was the middle of the night and hence the correct statement would be "we don't have all _night_" but you don't just going around correcting the King of Gods on little mistakes like that. Not unless you want to get burned to crisp by his lightning bolt.

My mother rounded the bench and approached me, 'Annabeth. You have grown much since we last saw each other.'

'Well, you haven't exactly kept in touch.' I said snarkily. Normally, I stood in awe of my mother but I was still bitter about her abandonment. Of all the gods and goddesses, my mother was the only one who could stand up to Zeus and get away with it. But she hadn't bothered, not even to help her own child.

Athena smiled sadly, 'I know. I am truly sorry.'

There was a little silence as she stood watching me, with that infuriating smile on her face. I looked away and tried to figure out why two Olympian gods had bothered to show up at my (temporary) doorstep. At the back of my mind, I was going over the prophecy again and again; one line in particular was bothering me...

Zeus cleared his throat impatiently, 'Hasten daughter. The Earth senses our presence.'

Athena sighed and said in an undertone, 'you must forgive Lord Zeus. He is a little... paranoid.'

'What are you doing here?' I repeated, not really caring about Zeus' rather apparent faults. Athena glanced around uneasily and motioned me to another bench, a few feet away from where Zeus was sitting.

As I took my seat, I couldn't help but glance to where Ella had disappeared. Half of me wanted to go after the harpy; I had so many questions to ask her, particularly about something specific but then my mother sat down and drew a deep breath, distracting me.

'Annabeth... we must talk.'

Rather oddly, I had a sudden vision of my mother and I having a conversation about the birds and the bees. Shaking my head, I pushed the image to the back of my head, fighting down the sudden urge to laugh. Somehow; I didn't think Athena would want to have that particular conversation with me—or even Malcolm for that matter.

Athena was still watching me, so I forced myself to focus. 'What... what do we have to talk about?'

She tapped her fingers together and regarded me carefully. 'The Prophecy you just heard.'

'Oh, thank the go—I mean, thank you.' I said, my mind racing to picking out the most important questions, especially about the one line in the entire prophecy that had bothered me the most, 'what is the "mark of Athena" and why did it just burn through Rome? Also what did Ella mean when—'

Athena shook her head, 'I can't answer those questions Annabeth; you know how prophecies work.'

I started to protest, 'then why—?'

'Do you not find it strange,' my mother interrupted me, 'that two Olympian gods are visiting you?'

'I don't—,' I stopped, suddenly aware that it _was _very strange. Olympus had been shut for six months. The gods had stopped responding to prayers or messages. Even Hades and Persephone had left the Underworld. Only something exceedingly important would make them –especially Zeus– break their self-imposed imprisonment.

A cold feeling settled in my stomach and my wound began to throb again lightly.

'Annabeth,' my mother began and surprisingly reached to clasp my hand, 'it causes me great pain to ask this of you...'

My wound was getting worse. I was beginning to feel dizzy and that _one _line in the prophecy was resounding like a gong in my head. I felt ill, no wait, I felt like I was being tortured by Gaia again '... I do not like to let my children fight my battles...'

My mother was still talking but the words seemed to be coming from far away. I began to tremble, just like Ella had, and my insides contracted, making my wound burn painfully. That one line...

'... it is necessary that you understand...'

I closed my eyes, and saw a rush of images, each a blinding flash of colour. I was clutching my stomach now, searching blindly for the bottle on antidote I knew I'd left on the ship. All the while I could hear Ella's voice whispering the one line again and again in my head, like she was in some sort of deranged loop.

'... the world must be saved...'

I was having difficulty breathing. The air was going and in and out but the oxygen wasn't reaching my brain. I felt like I was in the bottom of well, thick stone walls on either side of me, water underneath, threatening to pull me in, just like that line... what was it again?

_Son of Poseidon, killed by his love's hand._

'No.' I said wrenching my hand from my mother's grasp, 'no, stop. Just stop! Stop talking!'

I yelled the last few words and spun around, feeling nauseated. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zeus stand up but I ignored him. It was too much, too much to process. I gulped down breaths of air, trying to make the haze lift from my eyes but it wasn't helping. I fell too my knees, unable to keep standing as the words from the prophecy grew louder and louder in my head.

'Annabeth,' suddenly, my mother was in front of me, supporting me, 'listen to me, child. Let me explain.'

'I don't want you to explain!' I spat, flinching when her cold immortal skin came in contact with mine, 'I don't any explanation! I want you to _leave. _Go away—just _go away!_'

She didn't leave. Instead she just stayed on the ground with me, holding me upright since my brain seemed to have shut off that particular directive to my limbs.

'Annabeth,' my mother said again, 'will you please just listen to me? Just listen; if you want me to leave after that, I will.'

I didn't say anything, mostly because the wound was sapping my strength but also because the logical, unfeeling part of my brain was telling me that it would be wise to listen to my mother. Maybe I was interpreting things wrong; maybe I'd misheard or misunderstood. In either case, I had to give Athena the benefit doubt.

'Thank you.' My mother said, releasing me so that I was forced to regain use of my spine. I sat up straight but refused to look her in the eye, choosing instead to stare at the streetlamp not too far away. Inside my head, I pushed away Ella's words and focused on my favourite building.

'During the Second Titan War, a hero was forced to bear the Curse of Achilles.' Athena began, her voice emotionless, 'you knew that hero. He was Hermes' favourite son.'

I stayed silent. If my mother thought bringing up Luke was going to help make me understand, she was very wrong. Unwittingly, I thought of Liam and his damn blue eyes which had served as a constant reminder the last few days.

'He was forced into the Curse for one reason and one reason only,' my mother continued, 'what was that reason, Annabeth?'

I grit my teeth. Wasn't I just supposed to be listening? Still the words seemed to come out of my mouth without me working on them. 'To help Kronos build his strength till he could assume his true dorm. Kronos _used _Luke as a stepping stone.'

'Exactly.' Athena murmured and said nothing more.

The silence stretched for a minute while my brain started to make logical presumptions with my mother's words. I tried very hard to stop it, but it wouldn't listen. Already things were falling into place and the more they made sense, the worse I felt because it meant that I'd been right in interpreting Ella's prophecy.

'You can't be serious.' I finally said, looking back at my mother.

Her expression remained unchanged, 'it is a fact that history repeats itself.'

'Yes, but—'

'Think, Annabeth!' Athena broke in, looking faintly irritated, 'what did Gaia tell you? When she was torturing you?'

As soon as Gaia was mentioned, my wound spasmed, nearly making me throw up. I shut my eyes, fighting off the dizziness and in my head I could see myself again on the floor of the cold dungeon.

_I don't know if I told you before Annabeth, but Percy is very important to my plans. See I am going to use him. I am going to __use __him and I am going to drive him __insane._

I could hear her voice echo tauntingly as I looked at my mother the last shred of hope that I had, that all of this was a huge mistake, vanished. Gaia had offered to spare Percy if I gave her the Pearls—which made sense because the power of the Pearls would be enough for her thereby eliminating the need to use Percy as a stepping stone. _I _had one of the Pearls and the other one was lost. There was nothing to stop Gaia from using Percy... and driving him insane.

'Do you see, Annabeth?' Athena whispered, jarring me back to reality, 'when the time is right, she will possess him and turn him against the gods. Nobody will be able to stop her then.'

'Luke _let _Kronos in,' I said furiously, 'do you think Percy will do the same?'

My mother looked at me pityingly, 'he will not be able to stop her, child. She is too powerful.'

'Too powerful?' I repeated, anger resonating in every word. 'She's been gaining power for the last six months! Where were you in all that time? Why didn't you stop her _then_?'

'You don't understand—' Athena began but this time _I _cut her off.

'No, I do understand! I understand that you want me to _kill _Percy Jackson.'

There. I said it. I said the words out loud and all it did was make the whole situation more real. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Zeus fiddling with his phone. Seriously? The fate of the world rested on the death of a beloved demigod and all he could do was check his damn messages?

'Yes,' my mother said suddenly, 'I want you to kill Percy Jackson. I want you to kill him so that you can _save _Western Civilization.'

_Son of Poseidon killed by his love's hand._

Now it all made sense. Why Gaia's forces inside the Underworld had been told to _capture, _not _kill. _Why those men had attacked us in the convenience store. Gaia had _known _that Percy had got the Curse and was looking to bring him in. And Jason had been right. The gods _had_ been sending a message when the lightning had hit the Coliseum.

They couldn't have cares less about Octavian but it had to be known that I was the seventh member of the Great Prophecy. Ella had known all along, back when she'd read the Sibylline Books, she just hadn't found a person called Percy who she'd eventually realized was a Son of Poseidon. That's why she'd come to me; she'd been pleading with me to spare his life.

I would have to kill him to stop Gaia. I would have to kill him to save the world.

'I can't do it.' I whispered, feeling a single tear run down my cheek as I looked into the grey eyes of my mother. 'I'm sorry; I can't. I can't kill him.'

A few feet away Zeus snorted. I glanced over and found that he'd put his phone away and had chosen to stare at me, his cold blue eyes crackling with electricity.

'You can't kill him or you _won't_ kill him, child?' He asked, striding over.

'Either.' I said defiantly, 'both. Does it matter? It's not going to happen.'

'Does it matter? Does it matter?' Zeus repeated incredulously. His expression grew dangerous and I could smell ozone in the air. For a moment, I hoped he'd pull out his bolt and zap me so I could just die. He didn't, he just took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

'Do you understand the consequences if Jackson stays alive? Gaia will be undefeatable. She will topple Western Civilization and lay waste to all life—animal, human, demigod. So yes, child, it does _matter._'

I didn't budge, 'you should have thought of this when you decided to be a coward and close up Olympus.'

Zeus' expression grew ominous. High up in the sky, thunder rumbled ominously. I could feel the gathering power, was waiting for it in fact. The King of Gods was far too easy to bait. But the Goddess of Wisdom wasn't. Her eyes narrowed in realization and she stood up, placing a hand on Zeus' arm.

'Please, father. You cannot afford to act rashly.'

Zeus stared at me his fingers twitching. I wanted him to do it: summon his lightning bolt and kill me because there was no way I could stay alive with the kind of knowledge I possessed. Thunder rumbled again and I closed my eyes, feeling oddly weightless. There was a sudden gust of wind and when I opened my eyes, the King of Gods was nowhere to be seen.

'I asked him to leave.' Athena said, turning back to me. 'His presence unsettles you.'

'No,' I shot back, 'asking me to kill Percy Jackson unsettles me.'

Athena sighed, 'I take no pleasure in this, Annabeth, believe me.'

'I _don't _believe you.' I snapped, getting to my feet because I found I couldn't stand near my mother without feeling sick to the stomach. 'You've always hated him. You're jubilant because he has to die.'

'That is _not _true!' Athena exclaimed, sounding angry for the first time in the conversation. She fixed me with her grey stare and I found myself unable to look away.

'I never liked the boy—I will admit to that. But I would never willingly want him to die. Do you think I would do such a thing to you?'

'Then _why _are you asking me to do it?!' I yelled, tears streaming down my cheeks, 'why do you think that I am _capable _of such an act? Get someone else to do it—to kill him.'

Even as I said the words, I knew it couldn't happen. I would never let anyone else kill Percy. Just as he would never let someone else kill me.

'Because I can't.' Athena said, solemnly, 'he bears the Curse of Achilles. And nobody but you knows his weakness.'

'That's impossible,' I stated, 'you're a god. You can strike him down in one go.'

My mother shook her head again, appearing tired. 'No Annabeth, I cannot. His Achilles spot is hidden from my eyes—hidden from anyone's eyes except yours.'

'I don't know it.' I bluffed. While it was technically true, because Percy hadn't mentioned to me where his new spot was, I knew him well enough to realize he hadn't changed it. Last year I'd jumped in front of a blade to save him and this year I was going to be the wielder of the blade. I couldn't—it just wasn't in me.

'Lying to me won't change anything Annabeth.' Athena said quietly, 'Gaia _will _use him. Gaia_ will_ make him to do terrible things. Gaia _will _win if you do not accept this responsibility.'

_By the time __I __am done with__Percy Jackson,__ he won't be a hero anymore. He will be a murderer; with the deaths of millions on his hands._

Gaia's words again. It was like my brain was doing everything to make the case for my mother. I staggered backwards, feeling my wound burn as though there was bubbling lava under my skin. What was I doing? Was I actually considering committing such a heinous act? Percy –loyal, trusting Percy– would never think of such a betrayal from _me. _

_Which is why it makes the most sense for you to do it. He'll never see it coming. A quick, painless death. _A voice said inside my head. _Shut up, _I forced it down.

'Percy Jackson will die either way, Annabeth.' Athena called, as though she was reading my mind, 'the only difference is by whose hand. Yours or Gaia's. This is his destiny.'

_Percy was born of a broken promise. His destiny will always remain terrible. Nobody can change it. _

Nico's explanation for giving me the Pearl. He'd said it to make me understand that I couldn't protect Percy. It was ironic for the same thing to be used for killing him. My head was pounding, unable to decide. Both the arguments were whispering to me, telling me that I had to make the right choice.

'I won't do it.' I said again, this time with less conviction, 'I won't kill him.'

My mother regarded me sorrowfully, 'you choose the life of a doomed man over thousand innocent others. This is not logic, Annabeth.'

'I choose the life of a man I _love._' I bit back, not even realizing that it was the first time I'd used the four letter word in relation to him, 'I won't kill someone I love. You can't make me.'

'No.' She mother agreed drawing close to me, 'no I cannot. I understand Annabeth—'

'You _don't _understand!' I was shouting again, 'you don't understand it! How could you? You've never loved anyone; not my father—not me—not any of your other children.'

Athena's expression grew distant. 'I am bound by the constraints of who I am, child. Do not judge for something I cannot control.'

'Then don't judge for something _I _cannot control!' I exclaimed, furiously. 'Don't you see—what you ask of me is _impossible_. You should have fought her when she began rising!'

'We couldn't!' My mother's voice rose as well, 'we were too weak—_are _still too weak. Do you think if we could, we would not have tried?'

'It doesn't matter what I think.' I said, my anger draining out, leaving me exhausted, 'I won't do it. I won't kill him.'

Athena was silent as she looked at me I could see disappointment in her eyes. Ordinarily it would've crushed me. Her approval was something I cherished more than anything else in my life, but in this, it didn't inspire me at all. She couldn't guilt me into becoming a murderer.

Then something else struck me, and before I could process it properly, I began to speak. 'Why did Hephaestus send him to get the Curse anyway? How could he have not foreseen...'

I trailed off, and for a second I felt my heart miss a beat. When I looked at my mother I only saw resignation in her eyes. No regret, no remorse.

'...but he _did_ foresee,' I said hollowly, remembering an odd fact from what Leo had said in the car on the way back to Camp Jupiter. One detail he'd noticed because it was so out of place: the fact that his father's forge was tidy, as though _someone _had attempted to clean it up, someone like my _mother _who abhorred chaos and craved organisation and the only reason she'd visit Hepheastues was to fill him in on something...

'Or _you _foresaw,' my mouth was moving mechanically, fixing pieces of the jigsaw together on its own, 'you _knew _Gaia would use him and you told Zeus of your plan. And you decided Hephaestus would send him—because if you or Zeus sent him, it would raise suspicions...'

I could hear Percy defend Hephaestus in the car. He _liked_ the god, admired him even as though he owed the god a favour for something. We'd all been wrong; Hephaestus _had _never turned. He'd simply been following instructions.

My heart was hammering and my palms were sweaty and still my mother watched me without saying a word.

'The automatons were sent to make sure Leo got Gaia to capture us, so I got the Pearl from Nico before he gave it to her and ruined your plan. Aphrodite probably influenced Lit's thinking so that he hit on me—evoking Percy's fatal flaw which _you know of only too well..._'

The words were sticking in my throat because I couldn't accept the enormity of how the gods had played us. The extent to which they'd _betrayed _us. All this while, we'd fought for the gods, our parents. And all this while, they'd been planning. It was just like Liam had said, they hadn't been hiding for six months; they'd been _waiting. _

'... making sure only five could go with Percy on the quest because then Jason would try and come—and he couldn't otherwise he'd attempt to get the Curse himself and Lord Zeus couldn't allow his own son to be sacrificed, could he...?'

Athena's grey stare didn't waver and for the first time in my life, I felt a rush of actual, pure hatred towards my mother.

... you made _sure_ Percy Jackson got the Curse of Achilles because he isn't just a hero at the wrong place at the wrong time, he's a scapegoat to correct the gods' mistakes...'

I looked at the Goddess of Wisdom; my own _mother _and felt like going for my knife. 'He's _your _scapegoat. To correct _your_ mistakes. You should have known when Gaia was stirring but you didn't—you were complacent, lazy and overconfident because of your success so when it was too late, you condemned an innocent man to die to make up for it.'

I took a deep breath as my fingers wrapped around the hilt of my knife. 'And now you're going to pay for it.'

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I understand if some of you are slightly confused. If anyone has any questions about this revelation, please do go ahead and PM me. I'd be happy to clear things up. For people who don't have accounts, I shall answer your questions in the Author's Note of the next chapter.**


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: This last chapter is dedicated to "Capw8543" who gave me my very first review.**

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><p><strong>39) I Kiss My Sanity Goodbye<strong>

**Annabeth-II**

'What are you waiting for, then?' Athena whispered, her form shimmering silver in the dim light. All the animals around the little clearing we were standing in had fallen still. There was no breeze, no crickets, no nothing.

Just the sounds of my breathing which sounded inordinately loud, given the silence of my surroundings.

I stared back at my mother, my knife trembling.

'You want to attack me.' Athena said emotionlessly, 'you hate me.'

'I _despise _you.' I said through gritted teeth, trying to get my hand to stop shaking. It was no use; my wound had reduced to a dull throbbing but I still felt dizzy and sweat was collecting on my brow, dripping into my eye.

Athena didn't look remotely shaken by my statement. 'Then why hold the knife in your hand? Hit me with it.'

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to focus. I wasn't an idiot. Sure, gods could be beaten in combat by demigods; Percy's duel with Ares was a prime example but my mother was no idiot war god. She had a millennia of experience in tactics and strategy. And Zeus called her his best fighter. There was no way I could beat her.

'Chiron once told me,' I said slowly, 'that attacking an immortal was foolishness personified.'

Athena smiled sadly, 'Chiron is wise.'

'He's been a better parent to me than you.' I said coldly, wanting to hurt her with my words since I knew that my blade would be useless against her.

A flicker of sorrow crossed my mother's face but her impassive mask returned immediately. 'Either use the dagger or put it down. This is no time for childish games, Annabeth.'

'Sorry, apparently this is the time to sentence an innocent man to death.' I answered, wanting to hurl the dagger across the clearing on the off chance that it might actually work.

Athena sighed tiredly, 'nothing you do or say will change his fate.'

'What if I dump him in the Little Tiber, huh?' I asked, my voice rising because I found I couldn't control my anger anymore. 'The Curse washes away and your plan falls apart!'

My mother didn't blink. 'The Curse will not wash away. He has already, albeit unknowingly, accepted his Roman inheritance. The waters of the Little Tiber will not cleanse him of his Greek blessing.'

'_Fine_,' I said loudly, grasping at straws, 'I'll give the Pearls to Gaia. Then she won't need to use him.'

Athena raised an eyebrow, 'you'll turn traitor for one man?'

'I'll do what I have to, to keep him alive.'

She shrugged, very clearly not believing me. 'But you only have one Pearl and Gaia needs both.'

'I'll find the other.' I said, confidently, still not fully accepting the lengths I would have to go to protect Percy from my mother. What were my choices again? Oh yes, either betray Percy or betray the cause. What lovely options to choose between.

'You'll never find the other one.' Athena stated blandly, 'even _I _don't know where it's vanished.'

'But _you're _the one whohid them.' For a moment, I was too surprised to remember that I had to hate her. 'How could you not know where it is?'

My mother looked at the sky as though she knew the gods were watching our exchange. 'It's been thousands of years, child. Even _my_ memory fades after such a passage of time.'

'Or you're just pretending not to know.' I said, feeling as though a brick had been thrown at me once the realization sunk in, 'so that I don't find it and give it to Gaia.'

Athena regarded me carefully, 'you'll never know either way, will you Annabeth?'

The lump was back in my throat and the despair I felt was so deep that I knew what I had to do. I had to beg for Percy's life. It was the only way. I'd never begged for anything in my life—not once. My pride wouldn't allow me. I'd always managed to sort things through on my own but now, now I honestly didn't care. I'd kiss the dirt for her if it meant Percy wouldn't suffer his terrible fate.

'Please...' I whispered, 'please, just—just _spare _him. Think of something else, anything else; just don't make me kill him.'

Athena blinked and her face contorted as though the sight of me pleading was too much for her to bear. She stepped closer to me and I saw that her eyes were shining with something—what? Gods couldn't _cry, _could they?

'There is no other way, Annabeth.' She said, her voice cracking with emotion, 'I have _tried. _This is the only way, trust in me when I say it—this is the _only _way.'

'But I don't trust you!' I yelled, my fingers digging into my palm in anger. What kind of parent refused to help child on something so important? 'You've lied to me, all this while. Even now you _stand _there and tell me you don't know where the Pearl is!'

'Because I _don't_!' Athena said forcefully, 'that is the truth. I don't know where it is. If I _knew_—we could have used them and defeated Gaia, but it's lost and looking for it is illogical.'

'I won't do it!' I swiped the air with my dagger, trying to emphasize my point because she very clearly didn't understand me, 'I won't kill him! So looking for the Pearl is your only choice.'

My mother watched me sadly, 'I know you'll make the right decision.'

'What is that even supposed to mean?' I snapped, ignoring the sudden spike of agony in my abdomen, 'you think you can _guilt _me into this?'

She didn't answer and the sheer unfairness of the situation pushed me into talking again. The words came spiralling out of me, and I was pretty sure I wasn't even making sense. The still air pressed closer to me and my head spun, half from exhaustion, half from disbelief.

'This is not going to happen. I'm not going to kill Percy; I won't kill him. He's a human _being_, he's smart and funny and loyal and he's...'

My knees gave a warning tremble and I allowed myself to sink to the ground, 'he's my friend. He's stood by me for six _years, _when nobody, not you—not dad—not _anyone_—cared. I won't repay him with treachery.'

I broke off to cough and each spasm was as though somebody was driving a knife into me. When the bout finished, I was too tired to keep up my defence so I just stared at the ground, watching my tears dampen the dirt in sporadic patterns.

'I can't believe we're related,' I said after a while, 'because I _am _nothing like you.'

'Oh but you are Annabeth.' Athena whispered as he came to crouch down next to me, her grey eyes holding me in place, 'even now some part of you _knows _that you will kill him—'

'No I won't.' I told the ground rather uselessly, 'I won't kill him.'

'See!' My mother put a finger on my chin and forced me to look her in the eye, 'do you see what you said? "Won't" not "can't." You _won't _kill him but you _can._'

'That's not—' I stopped, I was feeling so _weak_, as though my entire body was paper thin and could be torn apart with a single blow. My vision was doubling and even my thought process had slowed down. 'That doesn't make a difference. "Can't", "won't," it's the same damn thing.'

'Oh but it isn't, Annabeth...' Athena whispered, 'somewhere inside your head you've recognized that Percy is a threat. You have recognized the need for him to be eliminated.

'Stop talking.' I pushed her hand off me and went back to the staring at the ground. 'Stop talking to me. Just go away.'

Athena sighed but didn't move, choosing instead to sit down in front of me. My fingers scratched at the dirt aimlessly. Weird how an hour can turn your upside down. When I'd dropped Percy off, my only worry was that he might sneak back anyway. But now... what the hell was I going to do?

'Does Poseidon know?' I asked, wondering if I at least had an ally to support my cause of keeping Percy alive, 'does Poseidon know what you've planned for his son?'

My mother's eyes flitted to the sky again. 'He suspects,' she admitted (which must have been very hard for her, because according to my mother, her strategies were far too intellectual for the Sea god,) 'but it doesn't matter. When he realizes, it will be too late.'

'What if I tell him?' I said suddenly.

Athena looked at me sharply, genuine fear brightening her eyes slightly. 'And what would that achieve? You'd throw the gods into a war they can ill afford.'

Her words –though rational– didn't fool me. For all my mother's opinions about Poseidon, I knew she was genuinely afraid of his sheer strength. He was after all, part of The Big Three. His rage would be terrifying if he found out that his son—his _only _son was being used like lamb for slaughter.

'You know what the worst thing is?' I said more to myself than to Athena, 'if I told Percy, right now about what you have planned for him, he'll accept it. He won't fight you—like I am.'

'Perhaps.' My mother didn't look convinced, 'or perhaps his self-preservation instinct will override his heroism. Do not underestimate the will to live.'

In my mind's eye I saw myself telling Percy what my mother had planned for him. I imagined the resignation on his face. The betrayal that would quickly follow. The disgust he would be sure to feel. The knife slipped from my fingers and landed in the dirt, scattering particles everywhere.

'I won't do it.' I said, for what seemed like the umpteenth time. It was only after the words settled in the air did I realize that I had indeed said "won't" instead of "can't." Annoyed with myself, and slightly afraid of the fact that some part of me _was _in fact contemplating murder, I pushed the thought away.

'Annabeth,' Athena called to me softly, 'I cannot make this decision for you.'

'I'm not going to kill him!' I said loudly, wishing my words would drown out hers but she continued on regardless.

'But, perhaps, in time you will realize that it isn't so much as one life lost instead it is thousands saved.'

I looked up, wanting to launch into another argument, already thinking of reasons and loopholes to provide to save Percy's life but then I caught sight of my mother's expression. It was sad but firm. She wasn't going to change her mind no matter what I said. In her mind, Percy was as good as dead. She would want me to accept that it was inevitable and move on.

The trouble was, I was never good and giving up, especially when something so close to me was on the line. It had taken Luke to threaten me _directly _for me to lose all hope for him.

'For what it's worth,' Athena said after a moment, 'I tried very hard to convince Lord Zeus that Jason could bear the Curse.'

'You should have tried harder.' I said, listlessly. All the fight was draining out of me. This was happening. There was _nothing _I could do to stop it.

'But even Zeus knows that Jason wasn't ready. The lack of certain memories...' My mother hesitated and subtly changed tack, 'he would have burned away.'

I pressed my fingers against my temples, wishing my headache would disappear. 'That doesn't help me. At all.'

Athena stood up, brushing invisible dirt off her clothes. 'I must leave, Zeus grows restless.'

I didn't say anything even though she waited, perhaps sure that I was going to fall at her feet again. I didn't—I'd had enough of her petty power plays. She'd won –she knew that, I knew that and pretty soon when Percy would have a knife in his back, he'd also know that– so why was she continuing this torture?

'When you have fully accepted your responsibility...' My mother trailed off, obviously wondering what was going to happen when I _didn't _accept my responsibility, because I showed no signs of thawing, 'then we shall talk further. You have much to be informed about.'

'Just leave.' I told the ground, 'I want nothing to do with you.'

My mother didn't say anything and when I looked up a few seconds later, she was gone. That's when the events of the past one hour actually hit me. It was like a physical punch and I just lay down full length on the ground, hoping against hope for a miracle. My head swam and for extended periods of time, I could only see white mist in front of my eyes.

Percy had to die.

It was ridiculous. Honestly, the whole situation was ridiculous. In the stories the Heroes always sacrificed themselves. They weren't sacrificed _by _others. And the gods were either with them or against them. They weren't halfway in between, plotting to save the world by using somebody as a scapegoat.

Percy had to die.

There was no other way around it really. My mother had made sure that no matter what I did, I couldn't stop it. Unless, of course I found the other Pearl—but where would I start looking? There wasn't exactly a handy map I had lying around. Plus, I had the feeling that if I did try and look for it, the gods might try to stop me.

Percy had to die.

I could tell Poseidon. He could help. Heck, he might actually know where the Pearl was. But what if he didn't? And my mother was right; telling him would send the gods into another war which would do nothing except to help Gaia win. Poseidon wasn't known for his rational thinking.

Percy had to die.

And then there was the damn prophecy. Could I even escape the task set out for me? I'd had my fair share of quests to know that no matter how hard to avoid it, it always came back to haunt you. Did I _have _to do it just because it was _in _the prophecy or was I going to accidentally kill my boyfriend just because the fates decided there wasn't enough drama in our lives?

Percy had to die.

And people would be saved if he did. Kronos was vulnerable when he'd inhabited Luke's body. His essence had been tied to Luke's physical flesh. Could the same be true for Gaia? Would killing Percy just as Gaia invaded his consciousness kill her as well? But if it didn't work; then I'd have just killed the only hope against Gaia.

Percy had to die.

I dug my hands into the ground again, cursing every smooth particle of dirt that clung to my fingers. Why couldn't people just let us _be? _After all he'd done Percy deserved a medal. Instead here he was, being served up on a platter again. A platter for Gaia to pick and choose from. A platter for me to strike down when the time was right.

Percy had to die.

And I had to kill him.

* * *

><p>Somewhere during the course of the night I dragged myself off the ground and on to the nearest bench. Over there I did the exact same thing I did on the ground—analyzed and reanalyzed the situation from every angle I could find, hoping that something would give way and present an opportunity for me to use. It didn't occur to me to sleep, in fact, I didn't <em>want <em>to sleep. Dreams were a one way path for gods to visit you and I didn't want any more visits.

Over and over again, I went through everything. Every sentence my mother had said looking, _praying, _for something I'd missed. The prophecy repeated itself line by line to me. The Mark of Athena had burned through Rome, signifying me as the seventh member. And I _had_ to be the seventh member didn't I—considering I had such an important role to play? I would walk alone, just like Leo had hypothesized, because nobody else could be subjected to bear my burden, least of all Percy.

_Power of the gods, divided in two.  
>Together they be used, their chances be few.<em>

Power of the gods? That most definitely sounded like Pearls except the next line didn't help at all. The chances of them being used together were few... which meant what? I _could _find the other one or Gaia could? Either way, it meant Percy didn't have to die. I clung on to that line with particular fervour, repeating it to myself so I could maintain some form of hope.

_Son of Poseidon killed by his love's hand,  
>To trust a friend, will be the decision of another man.<em>

Trusting a friend had nothing to do with me. The prophecy clearly stated that that was a choice of another man. I winced when I thought about it, because it meant that somebody else was tied to my prophecy as well and I couldn't tell them because then it would reveal my dirty little secret. Was I already condemning someone hapless demigod by holding my silence?

_The rising of the Earth must be stopped with force,  
>Demigods, mortals, their life will be lost.<em>

The last two lines were absolutely useless. They told me what I already knew from the Great Prophecy. The world would fall to storm or fire, which basically meant _somebody,_ would be using a lot of _force. _And in any war, people died so it wasn't as though the last line was a huge revelation.

I leaned back, staring at the sky and wondered if I should go after Ella. Not only because I knew she would have answers to my questions but also because I couldn't risk her reciting the prophecy to anyone else. That would be asking for disaster... and I'd had enough of it for one day.

A sudden movement to my left and I'd already thrown my dagger, not caring if it hit a wolf. Actually, I rather hoped it'd hit a wolf because then the wolf would have a reason to tear me to pieces, and that's exactly what I wanted. Needed. I had to be punished for giving my mother's orders any thought.

Instead I heard the blade hit metal with a loud _ding _and the next moment, Liam came striding out of the bushes, sporting my dagger in his hand and a furious expression on his face.

'Are you out of your mind?' He hissed, throwing my weapon back to me, 'you could have killed me.'

'That was the point.' I muttered, studying my reflection on the blade. Great, I'd missed my target twice in one night. Obviously I had to add "practice with knife" to my list of worries as well.

'The _point?_' Liam sputtered, his blue eyes widening rather comically in disbelief. When I didn't respond, he took a step back and studied me carefully.

'What do you want?' I asked, irritably. I didn't want him standing around. I wanted to mourn the future loss of my boyfriend alone and I didn't want some upstart Son of Demeter ruining it.

'I don't want anything.' He said, attempting, no doubt, to be reassuring. 'You look like hell by the way.'

'Thanks.' I said sheathing my dagger, 'now go away.'

Instead he continued to stand there watching me, his arms folded as though he was trying to protect himself. Pressure was building up behind my right eye again and I knew that I'd missed taking a dose of my antidote. The thought did nothing to improve my mood and finally, I snapped.

'_Why _are you still here?'

Liam actually looked a little hurt by the venom in my tone. He squirmed under my gaze and tapped his fingers against his thigh as he searched for an appropriate response.

'I just think that you seem a little freaked out,' he said eventually, trying very hard to not look me in the eye, 'and well—when I'm freaked out, I know I like to have a friend sit with me. It helps with whatever I have to deal with.'

'A friend to sit with you?' I repeated mockingly, 'you don't _have _friends.'

His expression darkened and when his eyes met mine I saw the anger clearly in them.

'Just because I don't have them _now _didn't mean I didn't have them at one point.' He said tightly and for some reason I actually felt a sliver of guilt for antagonizing him. A second later, I felt angry because I felt guilty. The entire conversation was screwing with my head, and honestly, I didn't want to continue it any longer.

'Go away.' I clipped my words off to show that I _really _wasn't in the mood to talk.

'Do you mind if I sit with you?' Liam asked, ignoring my hostile tone.

'Yes. Now _go away._'

He sat down. I had to restrain myself from drawing my dagger and tried to focus on the tree in front of me. Oddly enough, I heard the first new notes of birdsong a few minutes later and when I looked up at the sky again, it was considerably lighter. I checked my watch: 5.30 in the morning.

'Have you been awake the whole night?' Liam's voice jarred my ears. I sighed and rubbed my eyes, hoping to relieve the pressure which was still building.

'No.'

He chuckled, 'if you want me to believe that you might want to try a little harder.'

'I don't care what you believe.' I said, shortly.

He was silent for a few minutes and then reached forward and picked up a fallen leaf, twirling it between his fingers. 'Aren't you going to ask me why I'm wandering around so early in the morning?'

I looked at him blankly, wondering what the hell he was going on about now.

He sighed, apparently disappointed that I hadn't made the connection. 'I'm not exactly the most trustworthy person around.' He spun the leaf by its stem and sent it spiralling into the air, 'I mean I might have planted bombs around Camp to blow it up.'

_If only, _I thought hopefully. _It would make my life so much easier._

'I was making a joke.' Liam stated after I didn't respond. 'Most people laugh at them.'

'Look,' I started, trying to arrange my words to convey the message that his presence was really annoying me, 'I really don't give a damn about what you're doing, okay? Will you please just leave me alone?'

He studied me carefully, his blue eyes –Luke's eyes, I was painfully reminded _yet _again– searching my face with practiced ease. After a while he dropped his gaze and plucked another leaf from the ground.

'You don't have to tell me what's bothering you—' He started.

'—that's great 'cause I wasn't going to.' I interjected, wishing I could get my limbs to work so I could walk away myself. Sadly sitting in one place for four hours had locked them together tightly.

'But I'd like to sit here anyway,' Liam continued, ignoring my protest, 'I promise; I won't make a sound. I won't _move _if you don't want me to.'

I let my head fall into my hands and cursed the fates for allowing Liam to be at that particular spot in the bushes. Then, for good measure I cursed myself as well. If I hadn't been so quick to throw my dagger –or if my aim had been better– I wouldn't have had to endure the conversation I was having right now.

However, true to his words Liam didn't make a noise nor did he move. He sat completely still –which led me to believe that he did _not _have ADHD– and kept his gaze unwaveringly on the tree opposite us. I noticed he was still wearing his black jacket—did the man never take it off? He'd been in Camp two days and I hadn't seen him without it.

'Are you checking me out?' He asked amusedly, still not looking at me.

The question held such a foreign concept that I almost laughed but then I remembered Percy then I remembered his fate and suddenly, I didn't find anything hilarious anymore. I ran through the prophecy again, almost desperately wishing I would find something that I could use, but like the hundred other times, I ended up with nothing.

Suddenly, I wanted a second opinion. I'd wrestled with the problem for hours and I'd gotten nowhere. My first choice to talk about it would have of course been Percy but that was out of the question. And since no one really hit my number two spot (except maybe for Chiron or Thalia, both of whom weren't nearby) I settled for the person right next to me.

'Hypothetically speaking...' I began, knowing that Liam wouldn't ask for a proper explanation, 'if you were in a situation where somebody told you to do something—something bad, but something good too, what would you do?'

He was silent for a few seconds. Then, just as I was about to rephrase my question better, he spoke, his words calm and measured. 'What do you mean by something bad _and _good? It's either/or isn't it?'

'No...I—' I paused, breathing deeply and pushing my mess of emotions to one side so I could think clearly. 'What if it's bad for one person—a person you _care _about, but good for the other thousands of people?'

Liam blew out his cheeks, 'logically speaking, it's a numbers game. You pick the higher number.'

I felt the air rush out of my lungs. 'You're saying...' I took a deep breath, forcing myself to stay in control, 'you're saying there's no room for your feelings?'

'No.' He said quickly, straightening up, 'I said that it's logical. I, however, am not very logical.' He offered me a sheepish grin.

'So... what would _you _do?'

Liam ran a hand through his hair and tugged at the collar of his jacket. 'That depends.'

'On what?' I asked, impatient because he was stalling and I didn't have time for games.

He gazed at me unblinkingly. 'It depends on this _person _who's telling me to do things. If I trust this person completely and entirely, then yes, I'd do what they told me.'

'And if you don't trust them?' I pressed.

He shrugged, 'then I do it my way.'

I leaned back, suddenly exhausted by the intensity of his stare. His argument made sense and threw up a very important question: did I trust my mother? In light of recent events, the answer would be a loud, resounding "no." But as much as I wanted to stay angry at her, at some level, I got her reasoning and I believed her when she'd told that there was no other way. It would be unthinkable for her to leave the future of her civilization on a demigod—even if that demigod was her own daughter. Percy was her lost resort. _I _was her last resort.

The thought did _nothing _to help me. It only cemented what I'd already been denying for the last few hours. Percy Jackson was going to have to die. And I was going to have to kill him. The thought repulsed me so much that I shuddered unconsciously.

'I'm sorry,' Liam said quietly, 'I know that wasn't what you wanted to hear.'

I didn't even have it in me to tell him it was okay and simply mumbled something, too tired to actually care if he got it or not. As I stared at the ground, a sudden rush of images penetrated my head: the Underworld, wheat stalks standing in clumps and a dilapidated hut in which was a map... with markings.

I turned to Liam so fast; I gave myself a crick in the neck. 'The Pearls!'

'Sorry?' He looked at me, puzzled.

'The Pearls,' I repeated, feeling slightly dizzy again, 'you were looking for them.'

He hesitated, obviously uncomfortable with the change in topic. 'How'd you know?'

'In your house,' I answered, wanting to kick myself because it had been so obvious before and I hadn't bothered to put the images together, 'you had a map on the wall. There were markings on it—all of them were red, except one. One was black: you found the Pearl there.'

Liam didn't react like I expected him to, 'I found one copy—yes. But I never did find any hint pertaining to the location of the real Pearls.'

'Nico probably knows. He had one of them.' I murmured, refusing to let my hopes get dashed. It was the only way. I couldn't _not_ try to find the Pearl; that would mean giving up before I even started. If however at the end of the quest I didn't know where it was, then...

_No, _I told myself stubbornly, _don't think like that. Focus on finding Nico. He'll know._

'What happened to the one you had?' I asked, absentmindedly, 'the copy that never belonged to you?'

For a second, I thought Liam looked scared but then the expression vanished, to be replaced by his usual inscrutability. 'I lost it.'

'You _lost _it?' I repeated, horrified.

'When I fell off that bridge in Hephaestus Way.' He clarified, 'one minute it was in my pocket, the next it had gone.'

'Oh.'

I didn't know else to say. Part of me wanted to berate him for losing but it wasn't his fault was it? Maybe I'd entertained the idea that I could use the copy to lead me to the actual Pearl but now the only copy left belonged to Liam and he'd pledged to use it to stock _The Argo II. _I couldn't ask him to hand it over without raising suspicions and besides, what would solve the food problem if I did?

Then something else struck me and I felt another spark of excitement. 'Do you still have that book? Which I picked up from your bookshelf? I think it's called _Understanding Greek Mythology _or something like that.'

Liam looked a little confused, 'Yeah, it's in Barbie Prime. But... why do you suddenly want it?'

'Research.' I said as the sun began to rise, casting its rays over the treetops, filling me with the hope of a new day. 'Research.'

* * *

><p><em>The Argo II <em>was ready to leave. The problem was Reyna couldn't seem to let its passengers go yet. She stood on her little portable podium, giving yet another speech to the crowd that had surrounded the ship. In the very first line, stood twenty Roman demigods, in full battle armour, listening with rapt attention as Reyna reminded them of their precious Camp Jupiter values.

Honour.

Courage.

Discipline.

The speech was straight out of a war movie in my opinion.

I was on the main deck, leaning against the railing and watching the proceedings with a faint sense of urgency. I wanted to leave—I wanted to get back to Camp Half-Blood as soon as I could because I had to talk to Chiron. No, I wasn't going to tell him about the prophecy, but I still needed some questions answered: particularly about the exact history of the Pearls. If I was going to find the missing one, I was going to need all the help I could get.

Finally, Reyna ended her speech and the crowd gave a massive "_Ave!_" which seemed to shake the Camp to its very foundations. The Roman demigods, led by Percy and Jason marched down the lane, which had an honour guard covering both sides. I could make out Frank and Hazel as well, in separate columns.

It was all very dramatic and I was sure that those grim faced Romans were going to shed a couple of sentimental tears at the entire spectacle. Personally, I thought it was overdone. A cool breeze blew, doing little to alleviate my raging headache and I decided to track Will down so he could he gave me a couple of aspirin.

I'd barely taken two steps when Leo appeared, a clipboard in his hand.

'Need you on the flight deck in five.' He said brusquely, handing me a printout with all the information regarding wind conditions, air pressure, flight plan and latest satellite images of the airspace we'd be flying through.

'Weather seems to be holding.' I commented, trying to rub my temples without being too obvious about it.

Leo didn't notice; he was too busy scowling at the sky. 'It better.'

'You made sure our flight plan isn't crossing with someone else's?' I said, reminding him of our journey towardsCamp Jupiter where we'd very nearly been hit by a Boeing 747 simply because Leo _assumed _the airspace would be empty.

'Yep.' Leo grinned, 'triple checked it. We're good.'

'Okay,' I sighed, riffling through the second page and deciding I really needed that aspirin before I could do anything else. 'I'll see you in five minutes then.'

'If these guys move a little faster—maybe!' He waved irritably to the Romans who were still boarding _The Argo. _Thankfully, all supplies had been carried in earlier so all the Romans had to do was put themselves physically on board. That, however, was proving to be a major exercise.

'Look,' Leo moaned, 'they're already scuffing the deck. Do they _have _to come with us?' He stared at me pleadingly and I couldn't help but grin.

'I'm afraid they do.'

Leo looked less than pleased. 'I'm gonna find Jason and tell him to get these clowns below deck before they break something.'

'You do that.' I nodded and then remembered something, 'hey—hold on a sec.'

'Yeah?'

'You wouldn't have an espresso machine around, would you?'

I was in dire need of some energy, doubly so because I had a boat to fly. I couldn't afford to fall asleep on the job and my still healing wound was proving to be quite a drain on my reserves.

Leo smirked, 'yeah, I put one down in Ops. Can't stand the sight of it myself—reminds me of the _venti_.'

I laughed, even if it was a little strained. 'We've come a long way from that, haven't we?'

He held my gaze for a moment, appearing a little thoughtful, 'yeah, we have.'

For a moment, neither of us said anything and simply remembered the past—the beautiful, uncomplicated past where everything had been honest and straightforward. Now that I carried a dirty secret and suddenly I felt a twinge of sympathy for him. He'd been in a situation close to the one I was in now and all I'd done was judge him.

'Anyway,' Leo blinked out of his reverie, 'flight deck in five—well, four minutes now. Don't be late!'

I waved him off and spotted Percy heading towards me out of the corner of my eye. It took every ounce of courage I had to not turn in the opposite direction and run. Even so, I gripped the railing, just in case my legs decided to stop functioning again and planted the biggest smile I could, on my face.

Percy didn't notice anything wrong with it, which was a relief. Then again, he was so excited he was bouncing on the balls of his feet so maybe his observational powers weren't at their best. 'This is so majorly _cool,_' he exclaimed, waving his hands around, 'it's like _Star Trek_ meets _Pirates of the Caribbean... _and hey—what's that in your hand?'

'This?' I said, striving to keep my tone normal, 'this ... is ah, nothing.' I said dismissively, 'just pre-flight information. Nothing great.'

'Seriously?' Percy cocked an eyebrow, 'have I ever told you, that you're insanely hot when you do your smart thing?'

'My smart thing?' I repeated, desperate to keep him talking so that I didn't have to contribute to the conversation. Sure, he'd just complimented me but all I wanted was the conversation to end.

'Yeah, when you're all... you know, "I'm so cool, I know stuff." It's really awesome.' He was grinning again and just the sight of it made me feel ill.

'Yeah—okay, uh, look, I kind of have to get to the flight deck; we're leaving in a few minutes.'

Percy's grin wavered a little, obviously sensing my discomfort immediately. 'Right now? What about my tour?'

'I have to fly this boat, Percy; I don't have _time _for a tour.' I snapped, and then regretted it. Seriously, I was three sentences into the conversation and blowing it. What was wrong with me? Did I possess no acting skills whatsoever?

'You should... go to the game room.' I said, forcing my tone to be gentler, 'it'll probably make you feel better during the flight.'

'Oh. Yeah—that's not going to be fun.' He muttered, suddenly looking faintly nauseous.

'You'll be fine down there.' I said reflexively, just as the engines began to hum, signalling that countdown to take off had started. Already the main deck was almost empty with Katie doing sweeps to make sure, nobody was on it. She caught my eye and motioned me to hurry.

'Anyway,' I swallowed, feeling my throat dry a little, 'Take the first staircase down, you'll find the game room. I have to report on deck.'

Percy nodded and then suddenly grinned again. 'So very hot.' Without warning, he his fingers caught my wrist and jerked me close so he could kiss me. It barely lasted three seconds but for me it was the longest three seconds ever. He radiated such a sense of strength and security that I very nearly threw myself at him.

Thankfully, he disengaged before my defences crumbled completed and gave me a cheery wink. 'See you.'

And then he was gone.

* * *

><p>Five minutes, two coffees and one aspirin later, Leo and I executed a perfect takeoff and turned <em>The Argo II <em>homeward bound. Behind us, Camp Jupiter fired off a twenty-one gun salute in farewell as we soared off into the skies.

* * *

><p><strong>THE END<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm sure you guys have burning questions, most of which will be revolving around... a sequel? Did I say sequel? Maybe I did. Read the next chapter (Author's note) to get all the details!**

**But don't forget to review first!**


	40. Chapter 40

**Author's Note**

* * *

><p>Yes, I know; having an AN as a separate chapter is extremely unprofessional but there are so many things I want to say that I can't attach it to the end of the last chapter. Plus I wanted to make the chapter count an even forty.

So, first off. A huge, marvellous, gigantic hug to all my reviewers. When I say I couldn't have done it without you; I honestly meant I couldn't have done it without you. If you hadn't reviewed, I'd have probably given up the story halfway (as I am usually wont to do) so really, give yourselves a pat on the back for making this happen. No really, go ahead, I'll wait.

To all those guys who gave me constructive criticism (you know who you are) I would very much like to bow down a little to you. Maybe I didn't always follow your advice but the fact that you took time to give it to me obviously made it clear that you thought I was good enough to be made better. I can't say "thank you" enough times so I'll settle for "glad you left a word."

Now, on to the interesting stuff: (and I'm pretty sure most of you skipped the first two paragraphs just to get here) yes, there is going to be a sequel to this. No; it wasn't a spontaneous decision, I'd decided when I started "**Mark Of Athena**" to make a sequel, if I ever got around to finishing the former. Now that this story is complete—I am happy to say that yes, the first chapter of the sequel will be up by next week.

For those of you who can't be bothered to put me on Author Alert, it is going to be called: "**The Final Frontier**," so look out for it in a few days.

I know some of you felt cheated by of the fact that my "**Mark Of Athena**" didn't deal with their journey to Rome/Greece and so, you guys will be happy to know that the sequel will be about that. No more random trips to the Underworld because of the whims and fancies of Vulcan.

How is Annabeth going to deal with her task? Where is the second Pearl she so desperately seeks? How is she going to get to Nico? Whose side is Liam _really _on and will the Romans get along with the Greeks? Plus, the romance: who is Jason going to choose? Who is Hazel going to choose? It's all going to be there, so I hope you guys tune in to catch it.

Finally: I would like to say this to **Rick** **Riordan**: (whose blog I follow religiously and who will probably never read this) thank you so much for inventing these characters to play around with. And I hope your "**Mark of Athena**" kicks ass on the bestseller lists. You deserve it.

To my **readers**:

Thank you for joining me on this journey,  
>It's been the best,<br>But maybe, I can do one better in The Final Frontier, eh?

Yours Authorively,  
><strong>SearScare.<strong>


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